His Dark Materials Trilogy: The Golden Compass

[Jerry007]

Wonder whether this will succeed in filling in the void left by Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia in Winter 2007.

Info from comingsoon.net:

Nicole Kidman will star in New Line Cinema's The Golden Compass, playing the villainous and glamorous Mrs. Coulter, reports Variety.

Shooting on the $150 million production, based on the first part of Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, is set for September at London's Shepperton Studios.

Chris Weitz is directing from his own script. British newcomer Dakota Blue Richards has already been cast for the lead role of Lyra Belacqua, who travels to a parallel universe to battle the forces of evil and rescue her best friend.

Scholastic Media's Deborah Forte is producing with Bill Carraro. New Line is eyeing a November 16, 2007 release date.

[Jerry007]

Info from AICN:

Fresh on the tails of Nicole Kidman announced as Ms. Coulter in the first HIS DARK MATERIALS film, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, comes the news that Eva Green will also appear in the flick, playing a character called Serafina Pekula, a witch.

http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/mgm/casino_royale/eva_green/royale1.jpg

[LiquidShaDow]

Oh my....enchanting....:D

[Jerry007]

Info from comingsoon.net:

Daniel Craig will star in The Golden Compass, the first installment of the intended New Line trilogy based on the Philip Pullman series "His Dark Materials." Chris Weitz wrote the script and directs.

Variety says Craig will play Lord Asriel, a ruthless and mysterious adventurer who is the uncle of Lyra Belacqua, the young girl who journeys to a parallel universe to save her best friend.

Craig will be reunited with Eva Green, who played the Casino Royale Bond temptress Vesper Lynd. In "Compass," she plays a witch who helps the young girl navigate a world filled with shape-shifting and otherworldly creatures.

Craig also previously starred with Nicole Kidman in The Visiting, which Warner Bros. will release next year. Kidman plays the villainous and glamorous Mrs. Coulter in "Compass."

If New Line goes forward with all three installments of Pullman's literary trilogy, Craig's character will be a fixture of each, based on Asriel's role in the Pullman books.

The trio costar with newcomer Dakota Blue Richards in the film, which begins production September 4 in the U.K. and is scheduled for a November 16, 2007 release.

Craig will shoot the film and then return for the 22nd installment of the James Bond series, which has already been scheduled for a May 2, 2008 release.

[ArtURtlE]

Sounds really good.Quite attractive cast and nice plot. :s22: Another movie to look forward to :D

[Jerry007]

Sounds really good.Quite attractive cast and nice plot. :s22: Another movie to look forward to :D

Seems like Daniel Craig is getting some nice exposure in a few high profile flicks, among them Casino Royale.

[Jerry007]

Info from joblo.com:

Showing some confidence in their currently shooting fantasy adventure HIS DARK MATERIALS: THE GOLDEN COMPASS, based, of course, on the Phillip Pullman trilogy, New Line has set THE WINGS OF THE DOVE and THE FOUR FEATHERS scribe Hossein Amini (who also wrote the upcoming action thriller KILLSHOT and is currently writing the Hugh Jackman-starring flick DRIVE) to adapt THE SUBTLE KNIFE, the second book in Pullman's fantasy trilogy. Of course, New Line president Toby Emmerich is quick to point out that hiring Amini to adapt the second book is only a tentative move as the decision to greenlight actual production on the film will ultimately depend on how well the film performs at the box office. In this second adventure, Lyra finds herself in a parallel world to her own and encounters Will, a 12 year-old with powers of invisibility and who's in search of his dad. Dramatic adventure-having ensues. THE GOLDEN COMPASS opens December 7th.

Extra Tidbit: Pullman is currently working on a follow-up to the HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy titled "The Book of Dust".

[ArtURtlE]

I like the storyline alot.The 3 books were damm good, one of the best children novels around IMO.The books relate alot to reality while contrasting it to fantasy.Its intriguing and beguiles anyone who read it.Though i have some reservations over Chris Weitz because he seems abit out of place by directing TGC when he's more famillar with romantic comedy works, i hope TGC doesnt turn out to be a flop :)

[ExK]

but the title sounds very girlie ... is it some kind of mill and boon story set against a fantasy backdrop? :|

[ArtURtlE]

Nope ,the golden compass is a altheiometer that is able to predict future happenings and current events only by "scholars" or people that has affinity with it and one of the rare few so happens to land itself onto a headstrong girl named Lyra.Meanwhile her friend Roger gets kidnapped like many other children by an organisation and Lyra sets out to find her friend again.There are many complicated events in the story that slowly unfolds the real truth about Lyra's identity and the reason of her existence.The trilogy's backdrop based on the book should be somewhat similar to LOTR with a tinge of harry potterness & dv code :D

[Jerry007]

Check out a promo featurette of The Golden Compass here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58X4o_41Frc)! The film looks amazing btw.

[Jerry007]

Try this out. Pretty interesting. :D
My Daemon is Aditi.


Info from comingsoon.net:

New Line Cinema has launched a new interactive feature called "Meet Your Daemon" on its official website (http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/) for the upcoming film The Golden Compass. The movie is scheduled for a Dec. 7, 2007 release.

"Meet Your Daemon" allows users to discover exactly what daemon (pronounced dee-mon) best represents their personality, and then allows them to take their uniquely created daemon avatar with them by embedding it on their own website or MySpace page, using it as their AIM logo, or downloading it as desktop wallpaper.

"This feature lets you personally experience one of the most unique and engaging elements of 'The Golden Compass,'" says Gordon Paddison, Executive Vice President, New Media Marketing. "You can identify your daemon and then share it with your friends and social networks on a variety of digital platforms."

In the world of The Golden Compass, a person's soul lives on the outside of their body in the form a daemon, an animal spirit that accompanies them through life. A child's daemon can change shape, assuming all the forms that a child's potential inspires; but as a person ages, their daemon gradually settles into one form, according to their character and nature. For example, a person with a dog daemon would tend to follow authority, whereas one with a cat daemon would tend to be more independent.

Visitors to The Golden Compass website can discover who their daemon is by answering 20 personality profile questions. Based on their answers, a unique daemon is created for them with its own name and characteristics designed to reflect the user's real-life personality. As an added bonus, users can also have their friends answer the personality questions about them and see what daemon represents them in their friends' eyes.

[AJ_Style]

sounds interesting..................

[Jerry007]

The teaser poster is out!

http://media.movieweb.com/galleries/2869/posters/poster1.jpg

[ArtURtlE]

yes,yes saw this on comingsoon.Iorek & Lyra = pwnage lol

[Jerry007]

Info from comingsoon.net:

New Line Cinema has revealed the new teaser trailer for writer/director Chris Weitz's The Golden Compass online at Yahoo! Movies (http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/thegoldencompass.html) in High Definition QuickTime!

Based on author Philip Pullman's bestselling and award-winning novel, The Golden Compass tells the first story in Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy. Nicole Kidman, Sam Elliott, Eva Green, Dakota Blue Richards and Daniel Craig star.

The fantasy adventure opens in theaters on December 7.

[Humster]

LOL

My Daemon is a Crow "Hypatia.

[Jerry007]

LOL

My Daemon is a Crow "Hypatia.

Not hamster ah? :P

[Jerry007]

Info from joblo.com:

I still can't believe Chris Weitz, the guy from CHUCK AND BUCK, is directing such a huge film as THE GOLDEN COMPASS. I guess it's a little like Jon Favreau doing IRON MAN, isn't it. These were small-time, independent actor/directors, and now they've risen up to helm two of the biggest movies of 2008. Why can't I do that? Oh ya, that's right, I'm addicted to sleeping in the park.

There've been many films trying to capitalize on the fantasy/children's book adapatation craze sparked by LOTR and the HARRY POTTER series, but none have really hit the mark yet (okay, maybe NARNIA did). But I think THE GOLDEN COMPASS has a shot. Its world looks entirely unique, and I know its source material is very strong. There's a 5 minute clip of footage from the movie which premiered at Comic-Con and it's now online. For your very own convenience, you can check it out BELOW.

NwUaao-Cihs

[Wzierbovsky]

Quite interesting: Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig are also both lead-starring in another just about to be released movie The Invasion. Take yer bets on an off-screen romance. :s13:

[Feador]

whats this movie about? saw the trailer recently and it looks interesting, but it also kinda reminds me of narnia which is quite a bad movie.

[Zef]

those who have read the books will know that this is the dope sh*t :D

[Desmond_]

look interesting......

[brianho1990]

sry didnt know got thread!
v v looking forward to it!

[Jerry007]

Here's the new theatrical trailer (http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808718640/video/4451177/) for The Golden Compass!

[Jerry007]

Info from joblo.com:

Chris Weitz, director of the upcoming fantasy adventure THE GOLDEN COMPASS, the feature adaptation of the first of Phillip Pullman's spectacular HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy, recently posted an open letter to fans at HisDarkMaterials.org informing everyone of changes being made to the ending of the film. He's apparently ending the film a little earlier than the book in order to segue better into the second film THE SUBTLE KNIFE, showing a surprising amount of confidence that the first film will be successful enough to prompt New Line to pump money into a second. Here's part of what he had to say:

I have decided, along with Scholastic and New Line and, most importantly, Philip Pullman, to shift the concluding three chapters of Book I of His Dark Materials to the beginning of the second film of our trilogy, The Subtle Knife.

To me, this provides the most promising conclusion to the first film and the best possible beginning to the second.

[Jerry007]

Some reviews are up at AICN (http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/node/34914)!

[Jerry007]

Reviewed by Kirk Honeycutt from hollywoodreporter.com:

Bottom Line: A golden celebration of childhood fantasies.

With the glory of "The Lord of the Rings" cycle now fading, New Line looks to "The Golden Compass," the first of a projected series of films derived from Philip Pullman's widely read trilogy, "His Dark Materials," to get the studio back in the fantasy game.

This film just might do the trick. Because Pullman's emphasis is more on youthful heroes, beguiling magic and fantastical landscapes and less on the wars and machismo of "Rings," "Golden Compass" is a "soft" epic, a film touching on childhood fantasies with sturdy, unwavering characters driven to evil or good. More "Harry Potter," in other words, than "Beowulf."

Boxoffice looks substantial. Adapted and directed by Chris Weitz, "Golden Compass" possesses its own movie wizardry, ranging from terrific stunts and CG critters to otherworldly sets and all sorts of 2-D and 3-D visual effects. It's an imagination overload, yet the film maintains a steady course through the FX mire with a strong story line and viable characters at every turn.

"Golden Compass" takes place in an alternate reality Britain and Europe, where the time period appears to be late Charles Dickens and early Jules Verne. In a 19th century that features dirigibles, other exotic means of transport and mystical creatures, everyone is governed by an Orwellian overlord known as the Magisterium. A brave little orphan girl, Lyra (a bit of young acting magic that goes by the charming name of Dakota Blue Richards), grows up in an inexplicably pampered and carefree existence in Oxford.
Everyone in this world is conjoined by an animal spirit, a soul mate or alter ego called a "daemon," that entwines itself into that person's life. This is a major element in the storytelling, yet it makes for a cluttered mise-en-scene and must have been a bitch for the CG artists to produce, as virtually every character in the film is shadowed by a CG critter. (The film has more than 1,100 effects shots.) Lyra's daemon is named Pantalaimon (voiced by Freddie Highmore). Because Lyra is young, Pan can shape-shift into several animals as befit her unsettled moods.

Mysterious forces hover over this child. In rapid-fire events that can only happen when a movie is based on a detailed novel, her adventurer-scientist uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) turns up and almost immediately vanishes for the Arctic Circle to investigate a mysterious substance known as Dust. Her best chum, Roger (Ben Walker), is snatched away by the kidnapping Gogglers.

A college master unexpectedly presents her the gift of a metaphysical, truth-telling device called a Golden Compass. An ethereal yet possibly malevolent beauty, Mrs. Coulter (an icy Nicole Kidman), visits the college and just like that takes Lyra under her wing. Once Mrs. Coulter proves a distinctly unsuitable guardian, Lyra must escape with her life at stake.

The film is then off to the races as Lyra dashes for the Arctic while forming implausible alliances against the Magisterium with a series of human and nonhuman characters. Here the film's greatest weaknesses surface. Characters pop up as if cued by a railroad timetable. As Gogglers close in on Lyra, abruptly a seafaring clan known as Gyptians comes to her rescue. On the Gyptians' ship, a gorgeous witch, Serafina (Eva Green), materializes out of thin air, offering her help (which will really come in handy in the third act).

The Gyptians dock in the frozen north, and Lyra -- bizarrely unsupervised for someone the entire world is searching for -- immediately makes acquaintance with two more helpmates: a Texas "aeronaut" known as Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott) and an armored polar bear named Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen).

Several grand fights, one key revelation, a rescue of Lyra's playmate plus an old-fashioned "To Be Continued" ending make for a rousing finish. Witches sweep out of the night sky, bad guys when shot vanish in balls of flame and the glories of free will get celebrated by championing a child who never does what she is told. What kid won't go for all this?

The blend of live action, CG and visual effects is superb, making what must have been a technological nightmare look easy as pie.

[KWSW]

woot going to watch it on tuesday evening

[Jerry007]

From comingsoon.net:

Yahoo! Movies has posted online the first five minutes from The Golden Compass, opening this Friday, December 7. Written and directed by Chris Weitz, the big screen adaptation of the Philip Pullman novel stars Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott, Eva Green and Dakota Blue Richards. The fantasy-adventure features the voices of such talent as Ian McKellen, Ian McShane, Freddy Highmore and Kathy Bates as well.

Click here (http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808718640/video/5305481) to watch the opening scene!

[KWSW]

back from the gala premier at lido. expected the show to be abit longer though. But thats just me I guess. Will read the book tmr to see how close it is to the book. will give a short review after that. its almost 1am and my brain is tired... :o

[Jerry007]

The Golden Compass is definitely more Narnia than Lord Of The Rings. I felt strangely detached from the movie and don't feel strongly for any of the good guys. It could be mainly because the whole movie felt a bit too rush, with director Chris Weitz trying very hard to condense the richness of the book into a mere 1 3/4h movie, thus abandoning much of the details and development which would make the movie even more grandeus and epical in terms of scope. But the pace of the movie does went by quickly, sometimes too quickly. I guess Chris Weitz achieved his intention of exposition. Characters come and go without much development, except for the only brilliance of the movie, Nicole Kidman's sinister turn as the evil Mrs Coulter, whose chilling presence permeates the entire movie. Dakota Blue Richards also managed to carry the weight of the whole movie on her shoulder with her natural performance as Lyra.

Lord of the Rings had set a benchmark that I think no movie will be able to surpass in the near future (maybe with Peter Jackson's The Hobbit). The Golden Compass is entertaining and I'm sure the strange fantastical landscapes, CG and spirit of the movie will boast its boxoffice intakes. However, no matter how the movie dazzles us with its magic, it still lacks a soul for a movie about daemons.

[DarthGW]

i felt it was kind of slow paced and boring when i watched it today

[Jerry007]

i felt it was kind of slow paced and boring when i watched it today

Well, Lord Of The Rings did have some scenes which were slow-paced but those were necessary to depict the emotional struggle of the characters, to make them more believable so that the audience would be even more engaged with the movie. In The Golden Compass, there are no such scenes. However, the fight of the polar bears are quite well-done.

[paladin]

Info from comingsoon.net:

Daniel Craig will star in The Golden Compass, the first installment of the intended New Line trilogy based on the Philip Pullman series "His Dark Materials." Chris Weitz wrote the script and directs.

Variety says Craig will play Lord Asriel, a ruthless and mysterious adventurer who is the uncle of Lyra Belacqua, the young girl who journeys to a parallel universe to save her best friend.

Craig will be reunited with Eva Green, who played the Casino Royale Bond temptress Vesper Lynd. In "Compass," she plays a witch who helps the young girl navigate a world filled with shape-shifting and otherworldly creatures.

Craig also previously starred with Nicole Kidman in The Visiting, which Warner Bros. will release next year. Kidman plays the villainous and glamorous Mrs. Coulter in "Compass."

If New Line goes forward with all three installments of Pullman's literary trilogy, Craig's character will be a fixture of each, based on Asriel's role in the Pullman books.

The trio costar with newcomer Dakota Blue Richards in the film, which begins production September 4 in the U.K. and is scheduled for a November 16, 2007 release.

Craig will shoot the film and then return for the 22nd installment of the James Bond series, which has already been scheduled for a May 2, 2008 release.

Craig and Kidman also starred together in the movie " The invasion" about the aliens taking over bodies. Seems like this movie has a orgy of Craig and his female co-stars in other movies!

[Jerry007]

Despite its shortcomings, it seems that audience is responding more favourably to the film than the critics.

Here is a positive review taken from AICN:

After seeing The Golden Compass a couple of days ago I walked out grinning the kind of grin that could only be attributed to something far greater then special effects; mind blowing production design and a riveting adventure story. No, there was no oiled-up hunk rubbing my shoulders and feeding me popcorn kernel by kernel. And you can't count Quint offering to buy me a bag before the show or Harry (drooling over the Speed Racer trailer spectacle) as any substitute.

Directed and adapted by Chris Weitz (nominated for best writing, adapted screenplay academy award in 2003 for About a Boy) and debuting Dakota Blue Richards as the lead Lyra, The Golden Compass is based on the Phillip Pullman novel.

To be honest, I hadn’t read the book and walked into the theatre knowing little about the story. After seeing a Comic Con display of a few of the production props, wardrobe pieces and art department samples, I knew was in for a production design orgasm. I also watched the trailers a few times getting me giddy. I felt my little girl excitement for this type of fantasy adaptation.

However, the movie previews left a bitter taste in my mouth when it came to the CG. I winced at the sight of the cartoony movements of the realistically designed side-kick animals or “Demons”. After the movie finished I felt that a few more hours of rendering lighting effects on the furry friends wouldn’t have hurt. A few Demons were created well enough that you forgot they were nothing but moving blobs of pixels; others didn’t keep that secret so well. But, her best friend’s little puppy daemon, even as cute as he was, was the worst. With so many other computer born animals flying, crawling and slithering in and out of the frame the hit-and-miss animation became distracting and took away from the lead animals that were really well done.

The thing with this type of CG that irks me is that we are not watching them in their natural computer made environments. Poorly rendered digital characters are easier to forgive when the rest of their environment is also made of poorly rendered CG. Cough- Shrek, ahem. But by placing fake animals in live action settings requires the audience to have a large propensity to suspend their disbelief. I understand, from a technical stand-point, that the task of dropping CG into a previously shot film scene is hugely difficult in comparison to just animating everything from the get-go, but still it’s hard to see past the special effect’s jarring presence. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the animals moved like animals, because they looked like animals- but they looked like animals and moved like cartoons. That sort of thing works in a film with a more playful vibe, like Babe but The Golden Compass was a dark fanciful epic tale.

This “not being one thing or another” and the blending of story-telling methods seemed to be the main downfall of The Golden Compass that transcended beyond the CG.

The overall treatment of the subject matter made it hard to pinpoint for whom exactly the movie was made. It’s largely marketed at children and families but the slow pace and predominantly talking-head expository dialog won’t likely hold this young generation's short attention span. On the other hand, the dialog, as heavy as the subject matter was, wasn’t complex or intellectual enough for grown-ups. So, there was this kind-of wishy-washy feel to the tale. There were some scenes that were fairly graphic like this full-on violent polar bear battle (there for shock value?) that seemed to come out of nowhere. That had the movie geekoids around me laughing.

It’s no secret I am a child of the 80's, as is evident by the nostalgic movie memorabilia I have around my apartment. Star Wars ships, TMNT action figures and a Cabbage Patch Kid sized Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man looming over my keyboard. I practically popped out a movie geek, As a baby, I’m sure if I was offered baby food made from mashed popcorn I would have opted for that instead of split pea. I hate split pea anything now but have regular hankerings for that over-priced buttery evil of all carbs in a bag.

The trouble with being born a celluloid geekette isn’t the cellulite you incur from hours spent sitting and stuffing your face mindlessly, but the chip on your shoulder that grows larger every time you watch yet another amazing family adventure flick starring a courageous outlandishly imaginative little boy.

As a little girl, I loved going to the silver screen. I loved almost every part of it. The part I didn't love was that I seldom saw myself being reflected back from the silver screen. Are we as family fantasy film lovers supposed to see the adventurous little boy-rascals fighting dragons and saving their friends as “the little boy” in all of us? If we were not, then we would sure be SOL wouldn’t we? The box office would be down a few numbers too, because despite 80’s and 90’s family adventure flicks most often starring my male counterparts, it wasn’t just the boys watching these flicks. Most of my girlfriends have the same type of nostalgia associated with The Goonies as any of the boys in school, despite the fact that the only two girl characters in this film were whiny little hanger-ons love-interest sidelines.

We girls loved these movies just as deeply as the next guy. Why? Because we didn’t have much of a choice and the adventures that these little heroes had captured our imaginations far beyond any My Little Pony could. Does that mean that the void of adventure seeking little girls went unnoticed for us, or that it didn’t have any sort of long lasting impact? Not for me. Just because you love movies starring little boys doesn’t mean that you aren’t perturbed there are too few girls majestically riding an animal into war, fighting pirates, searching for treasure, or befriending robots.

The time has come when a little girl should be able to go to a movie with her Mom, Dad and bratty brothers and go “Woh coooooOOOooool” from the heart.

Bottom line is despite it’s CG shortfalls and atmosphere made for a 10 year old with the attention span of 20 year old, I was extraordinarily happy with the film. Maybe it’s because I watched it with the movie-loving eyes of a ten year old set in my 20-something year old body. Maybe it’s because seeing little Lyra rescue her best friend while staring down scary gypsies and asserting “What are you looking at?” or “Don’t ever call me a lady!” was nothing short of therapeutic for me. After years and years of studio neglect, lack of acknowledgement of my adventurous spirit and visual torment of having to sit and watch another little heroic boy have all the fun while the girls duck and waddle behind him whining, crying, acting pissy and pouting, Finally I say, finally.

-Midol Girl

Remember these childhood adventure classics? I do – they are my favorites! I don’t see a single girl story here though. Does this year’s The Golden Compass mean times are changing? I sure hope so.

Luke Skywalker, Star Wars 1977
Jen - The Last of Gelflings, The Dark Crystal 1982
Bastian, The Never Ending Story 1984
Elliot, E.T. 1982
Pony Boy, The Outsiders 1983
Billy, The Gremlins 1985
Michael, The Peanut Butter Solution 1985
Marty McFly, Back to The Future 1985
Mikey, The Goonies 1986
Sean, Monster Squad 1987
The Grandson (Fred Savage), The Princess Bride 1987
Willow, Willow 1988
Luke Eveshin, The Witches 1990
Kevin, Home Alone 1990
Andy, Toy Story 1994
Hogarth, The Iron Giant 1999

[mango.fish]

not very interesting story in my opinion
just another fairy tale of "the chosen one" like stardust, harry potter, seeker

why is there always a "chosen one" ? zzzz

[ninkuboy]

bombed in the us box office.

[Jerry007]

bombed in the us box office.

It grossed a disappointing US$8m on Friday but it's still too early to say coz u still have to factor in the international boxoffice. So far it is doing well in territories outside the US.

[ninkuboy]

It grossed a disappointing US$8m on Friday but it's still too early to say coz u still have to factor in the international boxoffice. So far it is doing well in territories outside the US.

it's not too early to tell, 8 mil domestically on in a single day is a bomb no matter how its painted. especially when a movie costs 200mil+

[Jerry007]

it's not too early to tell, 8 mil domestically on in a single day is a bomb no matter how its painted. especially when a movie costs 200mil+

Yup, but the movie may have good legs to carry it thru the holidays. It may not be a massive LOTR or Narnia grosser, but it may still do well when u count its worldwide gross.

[ninkuboy]

it's got to take about 30 mil over the weekend to reach the minimum expectations, so far the forecasters expect it to take lower 20s unfortunately even though it should be the number one film. that's why big budget films are such risky business these days.

also it should be noted that unlike lotr's three picture deal, this franchise is on a picture by picture basis, i'm hoping it does well cause i wouldn't mind seeing a completed trilogy on screen.

[tequila_powered]

Slowwwwwwwww movie. :s22:

[ExK]

boycott from the highly vocal christian faith is the main reason for the poor boxoffice, I believe ...

[Jerry007]

boycott from the highly vocal christian faith is the main reason for the poor boxoffice, I believe ...

They are a very sensitive group. How could they think that the Magisterium is a reflection of the Church? :s8:

[Jerry007]

Compass proved to be more potent in territories outside the U.S.

From hollywoodreporter.com:

The holiday season kicked into high gear internationally the previous week and through the weekend as New Line Cinema's "The Golden Compass" opened in 25 markets for an estimated boxoffice gross of $55 million from about 5,500 screens. That's roughly $10,000 per screen.

"The numbers are very solid, very strong," said Rolf Mittweg, president and COO of New Line Worldwide Distribution and Marketing. "(The opening surge) bodes very well for a very successful run throughout the holiday season. It's all about longevity at this point."

The special effects-laden adaptation of the first of British children's author Philip Pullman's three "His Dark Materials" novels -- about a 12-year-old girl battling an evil empire -- began its opening surge overseas Dec. 5-7, with "weekend" figures covering as many as five days in most key markets. It is the No. 1 title internationally for the period.

With a production budget of about $180 million, "Compass" -- a family-oriented film co-starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott and newcomer Dakota Blue Richards as the girl -- is New Line's most expensive movie ever. Combined with its $26.1 million opening and No. 1 finish domestically, its worldwide tally is $81.1 million.


"Don't forget, we are at the beginning of the holiday season, no school holidays yet," Mittweg said.

Mittweg also "sort of" confirmed the size of "Compass' " production budget, saying that New Line "always mitigates on the downside" via foreign presales. "Once we know more about the final boxoffice tallies, and how they will end up, I think we will decide to embark on the second film" based on the second novel of the trilogy, he said.

The biggest market for "Compass" was the U.K., where New Line said it drew an estimated $18 million over five days from 950 screens (other sources put the figure at $12 million-$13 million).

France (770 screens), Germany (1,000 screens) and Russia (550 screens) each provided about $5 million, the distributor said. Results in Spain -- an estimated $10 million from 536 screens -- benefited from a national holiday Thursday.

Finishing in second place during the weekend is Disney's musical fantasy "Enchanted," which drew an estimated $11.6 million from 2,594 screens in 18 territories, lifting its overseas cume to $35.8 million (and $119.7 million worldwide). A big contributor was a No. 1 bow in Italy that garnered $3.4 million from 400 screens. A Greece opening produced $735,000 from 50 sites for a lofty per-screen average of $14,700.

[mango.fish]

boycott from the highly vocal christian faith is the main reason for the poor boxoffice, I believe ...

that is not the reason for its poor box office
if so, i dont see why Da Vinci Code could be a success

in Golden Compass, i dont see anything wrong which can contradict bible as it is a fairy tale
if according to them it is anti-christ show, then all other shows can be : starwars, lotr, stardust, hitman, harry potter - EVERY SHOW can be.

[ninkuboy]

the catholic league is really just one person making a lot of noise.

[jack112]

AIYA. the catolics are making alot of noise because of the themes presented in the book. Although i nvr read the book myself, i've saw the movie and could see why they are making so much noise. The magisterium seem to dipict religion in the golden compass as a organisation that controls people. This may give an impression to people that religion is fake and stuff.

And in the last book, read in the wiki that the heroine kill.ed God

[irradicalism]

hmmm anyone read the novel? his dark materials by philip pullman... any comments regarding the adaptation?

[ExK]

yeah the christians (or rather, the catholics as ninku mentioned) can be quite sensitive ...

[ArtURtlE]

hmmm anyone read the novel? his dark materials by philip pullman... any comments regarding the adaptation?

Watched the movie didnt really like it,coz the first book is actually amazing and the essence of it was only revealed at the last part of the book.However our dear Chris Weitz decided to cut it out frm the movie and the ending left me in a "wtf state of mind"....i suspect he did it so that lord asriel could play a bigger role in the sequel and maybe for box office potentiality for the subtle knife..who knows...Overall i would give Golden Compass a 5/10 rating only thanks to its erratic pace and horrible ending for the movie.Movie did not have really any spectacular scenes...it was quite of standard but just no particular scene that is worth remembering maybe coz i expected so much more coming from the book...
Kudos given to Nicole Kidman's performance and the visual art department though...
Conclusion:dump the movie read the book and let ur imagination run wild :s8:

[mango.fish]

Watched the movie didnt really like it,coz the first book is actually amazing and the essence of it was only revealed at the last part of the book.However our dear Chris Weitz decided to cut it out frm the movie and the ending left me in a "wtf state of mind"....i suspect he did it so that lord asriel could play a bigger role in the sequel and maybe for box office potentiality for the subtle knife..who knows...Overall i would give Golden Compass a 5/10 rating only thanks to its erratic pace and horrible ending for the movie.Movie did not have really any spectacular scenes...it was quite of standard but just no particular scene that is worth remembering maybe coz i expected so much more coming from the book...
Kudos given to Nicole Kidman's performance and the visual art department though...
Conclusion:dump the movie read the book and let ur imagination run wild :s8:

none can beat starwars and lotr

[Jerry007]

none can beat starwars and lotr

The original Star Wars series, not the prequels. How abt the Indiana Jones trilogy?

[Citiguy]

I liked the ice bear fight scene between Iorek Byrnison and Ragnar Sturlusson. Class 'coup-de-grace' for that fight scene from Iorek.

[danguard]

think it is overhyped and is somewhat of a chasing train trilogy like LOTR and Harry Potter ... the audience might be tired of such movie trilogies in my opinion :)

[FlashBack]

somehow, this movie doesn't seem really kid friendly. some of the scenes may be too intense for them, especially at the bear fight scene, where i heard many kids gasping in shock at the finishing portion of that fight :D

i haven't read the original story, but i guess they're really banking on doing it as a trilogy, judging from how under-used daniel craig seems to be in this 1st movie.

as to the seemingly 'over-sensitive' response of christians toward the author phillip pullman and his books/themes mentioned by some, the following from him during interviews may shed some light :) ....

Pullman has not been shy about his active disdain for Christianity or his own comments about the stories of Tolkien and Lewis. Here are his own words:

“The Lord of the Rings is just not interesting psychologically; there's nothing about people in it.”

And his scorn for Lewis's fantasy world has been widely documented.

“I hate the Narnia books. I hate them with a deep and bitter passion, with their view of childhood as a golden age from which sexuality and adulthood are a falling away.”

He has called the series “one of the most ugly and poisonous things” he's ever read.

[Pullman] ... I've been surprised by how little criticism I've got. Harry Potter's been taking all the flak. I'm a great fan of J.K. Rowling, but the people—mainly from America's Bible Belt—who complain that Harry Potter promotes Satanism or witchcraft obviously haven't got enough in their lives. Meanwhile, I've been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God.”

[Arbalest]

Fell asleep during the first half of the movie .. and the only other movie i have fell asleep watching was Ali

There were no proper introductions.. i feel that characters are just dropped in too suddenly. And they spew complex terms out like its commonly used in reality. If youre a fan of the book you might know whats going on, but like most other people i have not read the original material so im kinda clueless as to whats going on. So if you cant explain it properly, your audience just ain't gonna get it. Period.

Yet, I would like to see a sequel. I feel that the universe has great potential and for it to be fully realised on screen it needs better direction

[ExK]

finally caught the movie.

I think the story universe is interesting and the idea of an animal hosting our soul is quite imaginitive in my opinion. I agree with arbalest that the opening is a bit too sudden, and with arthur that the ending really sucks. However, I didn't find the movie boring. The child lead is far more competent than those in Narnia, and the good performances of the supporting cast kept me engaged. Most importantly, the author was able to spin many interesting plot devices from the central 'daemon' concept, so they keep the movie refreshing.

It's not as good as Stardust, but it's reasonably watchable. 3.5/5 from me.

[Deimos]

the child actor "silver tongue" dakota has a bright future ! (does she reminds u of cate blancett ?)
outshinning even nicole kiddman lol

this film follows the pattern of nardia ,eragon, beowulf , in the sense that it offers nothing spectacularly new. more similar to nardia , better but not by very very much

i too agree that all the characters appeared out of no where, example the witches. we saw them eariler on heading to war (i think) and thats it. we have no idea what were they fighting for. a little back story will definitely help.

hope the sequel can pick up the pace and story and give harry potter some competition:s22:

[FireEel]

Not a very good movie imo.

Pacing was very weird, too fast at some scenes and too slow at others.

Dun feel epic enuff even, and some things feel..."forced" in.

For example, I was wondering why witches suddenly popped up. The first witch that appeared on the boat was not a very good way of introducing them imo, lacks backstories and purpose.

Also, I was very suprised they didn't showed more of Craig. They showcased him like some important main character but I barely saw him for 20 mins(not that he isn't impt).

Lastly, some things were too....acted out. For example when Lyria just got to the ship and was talking to the Hagrid-lookalike leader, he then sternly said if the gobblers had hurt any children, he would blah blah blah...I have a feeling they were trying to capture the feel of Aragorn and his words of motivation, but seriously that part too cheesy imo, kinda like overacting to me.

Skip this if ur expecting a good movie, u will enjoy it more if u walk in with a blank mind.

[tequila_powered]

3.5/5. .

[cal127]

My take...the pace is too fast, characters and storylines underdeveloped and feels contrived and was a pretty unmemorable experience.

[Jerry007]

From dvdtimes.co.uk:

New Line Home Entertainment have announced the Region 1 DVD release of The Golden Compass on 29th April 2008. Based on the first novel in the His Dark Materials series, this family fantasy follows a curious young heroine, Lyra Belacqua, and her quest to protect the coveted Golden Compass – the last of a mystical, powerful device that can unveil the truth, reveal what others wish to hide and even see the future. Lyra’s courageous nature and determination to protect the device – and rescue her best friend – open the door to an adventure that will take her over sky and ocean to the wilds of the icy north, where she will gain powerful allies in fantastical creatures.

Available in separate Widescreen and Full Screen single-disc ($28.98 SRP) and Widescreen two-disc ($34.99 SRP) editions, features are as follows…

Two-Disc Edition
2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, DTS-ES 6.1 Discrete Audio and English 2.0 Stereo Surround
English and Spanish subtitles
Feature-length audio commentary from writer/director Chris Weitz
Eleven “Making-of” featurettes including “The Armoured Bears” featurette, The Adaptation” featurette and the “Production Design” featurette
Theatrical and teaser trailers
Galleries

The single-disc editions are barebones with the same audio and subtitle options (DD2.0, DD5.1 EX and DTS-ES 6.1 Discrete Audio, English and Spanish subtitles).