Jerry Bruckheimer, who produces the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, told a group of reporters that the star, a much-pumped-up Jake Gyllenhaal, will be unrecognizable in the title role. Asked for his producer's opinion of the film's dailies and cut footage, Bruckheimer went straight to his star's appearance.

"Yeah, you won't recognize Jake Gyllenhaal," Bruckheimer said in a press conference on Sunday in Beverly Hills, Calif., where he was promoting his latest film, Confessions of a Shopaholic. "I've seen most of Prince of Persia. It looks fantastic."

The producer added that Gyllenhaal got his swashbuckler muscles the old-fashioned way. "No, no drugs," he countered to jibes against Gyllenhaal's sudden bulk. "No drugs. [He] just worked really hard."

Bruckheimer credited Gyllenhaal with a solid athletic foundation that was easy for his Hollywood trainers to manipulate in different directions. "Well, he's a cyclist anyway, and he bikes all the time," the producer said. "We just had to have him do a little lifting, but he looks fantastic."

The movie is based on the hit Ubisoft video game. Despite hits such as Resident Evil and Mortal Kombat, game-based movies have yet to garner critical acclaim. But Bruckheimer is optimistic about Prince of Persia: "Let's hope. Let's hope."

Bruckheimer, who produced Disney's well-received Pirates of the Caribbean movies, added that he hopes Prince will earn similar kudos. "I hope so," he said. "I think we have a terrific story and great characters and a wonderful cast, a great director. Mike Newell is a master." Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is due in theaters May 28, 2010.

Separately, MTV.com reported that the first poster for Prince of Persia will appear in Confessions of a Shopaholic, appearing as a Times Square advertisement about halfway into the film. It joins posters for a number of other Bruckheimer productions, including the upcoming G-Force, though Persia is unique in that it marks the first time the film's artwork has been seen anywhere, with Gyllenhaal in full costume as Prince Dastan, the site reported.