A lot is riding on the next Prince of Persia properties.

First, there’s the videogame sequel to 2008′s next-gen relaunch of the series, Prince of Persia. The new chapter, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, will be released on May 18. Only ten days later, Jake Gyllenhaal will star as the Prince in a Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time movie, in theaters May 28.

If all goes well and nothing sucks, this could turn Prince of Persia, finally, into the Lara Croft replacement that the gaming world has long been searching for; a franchise that rocks as an adventure game and as a movie franchise. Lara never quite lived up to the hype as some of the games really stunk and the movies, despite a decent female star in Angelina Jolie, were largely disappointing and only bring back bad mac memory; but at least the Prince of Persia games rock.

Now all that remains to fall into place will be whether the movies are any good at all.