The Golden Compass - "His Dark Material" trilogy being filmed? (1 Viewer)

[Phil Florian]

Any commentary on the new trailer? I like it a lot in that it better explains the world and shows the daemons in action (limited to not at all in the teaser). I have some buds that haven't read the book (heathens!) and I think this will be a better sell.

I was sad to lose the original voice for Iorek as he sounded fine to me. Was he really just a placeholder or were they trying to capture some LOTR magic by having some of that crew populate the movie (Saruman shows up, too).

The last line hollered by Ian McShane was fantastic, too. Was glad to finally hear a bit of him since he didn't show up in the teaser. So far, it looks pretty honest to the book. I know there will be changes but if they capture the world, the tone and the broad strokes of the book I will be happy. The book is still on my shelf, not matter what they do, but a thrilling companion to it would be great.

Unless folks are willing to invest entire seasons of TV to a book (yeehaa!! Game of Thrones!!) then a broad vision of a book is the best we can ask. This looks promising.

 

[Claire Panke]

Newest stuff *looks* good, but I'm still mourning the loss of Stoppard's script.

The visuals look strong enough that I'm cautiously optimistic, and perhaps Weitz will be a better scripter/director than I think he is. I'm sure he's no Stoppard.

 

[Lucia Duran]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n3536544.shtml

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Yeah, I don't see how they can make a version of Amber Spyglass that's in any way relevant to the text and not get boycotted by the Religious Right. Pullman sure does hate that old time religion.

 

[Chris]

BTW, addressing the Ender's Game notes from the pages before.. I've always found Speaker for the Dead the strongest book card has ever written with the most thoughtful prose and real characters you can follow and fall for. That having been said, the only book he has that would really be filmable as it is would be "Empire" which is pretty "eh" cloak and dagger stuff, but it's an interesting pulp read.

That brings me to my problem with this.. it's OK to interpret a book and make it into a film. But the moment you start to change the fundamental nature of a book in order to make a film, it's something I have a lot harder time thinking positively about. I'm working through this book right now, and it is what it is. If they wish to make wholesale changes in this in order to placate the audience, then it's really a disservice to all those who've read the book.

There are books that have been translated to the screen, and despite changes for the visual realm, they stay true to the meaning of the book (see: LOTR trilogy). And there are others which make drastic wholesale changes, and while they may be based on the book, they are VERY loosely based (see: Starship Troopers, which while fun, is NOTHING like the book)

 

[Keith Mascarenhas]

Yeah, I don't see how they can make a version of Amber Spyglass that's in any way relevant to the text and not get boycotted by the Religious Right. Pullman sure does hate that old time religion.

The Amber Spyglass - I'm not even thinking that far ahead, LOL! Considering what they've done to the ending of TGC, I'm wondering whether The Subtle Knife can even get made, considering how dark it is.

 

[JohnDG]

Is the trilogy going to be finished in film? Or is the project dead?

jdg

 

[DavidPla]

I think it's dead. Now that New Line is pretty much gone, I can't see Warner Bros picking it up and continuing with it.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I agree, which is a shame. Dakota Blue Richards was pretty much the ideal Lyra, and if they don't move quick I'm sure she'll be tied up with too many other projects since she's such a huge talent. And because of the financial failure of the first, I definitely don't see them moving at it again anytime soon. The supporting cast was also excellent.

 

[dana martin]

Only finically failed in US, actually made good world wide,

Total

Domestic: $70,107,728 19.1%
+ Foreign: $297,018,445 80.9%
= Worldwide: $367,126,173

Not the lord of the rings franchise that new line was hoping for, but I would hardly call those numbers a flop,

Maybe if instead of shying away from the material that had just gone forward with it, and not worry about what the different churches had to say, instead of watering down the subject matter.

There is no such thing as bad publicity, but to release an anti God film at Christmas time is kind of stupid really,

Hopefully they will finish the trilogy, more inline with the books, and also hopefully when its released on dvd the directors cut can add back the material that they thought would hurt them because of the church.

 

[DavidPla]

Only finically failed in US, actually made good world wide,

Which didnt' matter much to New Line as they sold their overseas rights for distribution. You know when Eragon outgrosses you domestically, there's a problem.

 

[dana martin]

Which didnt' matter much to New Line as they sold their overseas rights for distribution. You know when Eragon outgrosses you domestically, there's a problem.

that was there choice, maybe still feeling some of the sting over the Jackson lawsuit at that point. but possibly the overseas conection will help to get the other two films made.

 

[Ric Easton]

The wife and I just watched the Blu-ray disc. Having not read the books, we enjoyed the film enough that I instantly had to see what the status is of the next film. Now, I'm finding out that there may not be a second movie.

Has there been any good word on this? Too bad New Line didn't let them shoot all 3 at once, like LotR. If they do make it, but wait too long, the kid will out grow her part.

Maybe it will do well enough on video, that they will give it the go ahead if they haven't already.

 

[Ray H]

As a lover of the novels, I was rather disappointed by how they hacked the movie. It's not that they didn't shoot certain scenes, it's that they decided to use them in the sequel instead. And doing so required even more changes. Not only that, but they diluted the power and the message of the books just to appeal to wider audiences - their argument being that it would help the sequels get made.

So the notion that they essentially messed up the first one for a sequel they may never make has me quite frustrated. Let's hope the two sequels get made and don't get compromised like this film.

 

[Edwin-S]

I just finished watching this film on BD. This film demonstrates why I should never listen to critics when deciding on whether to go to a film. The reviews of this film were lukewarm to negative so I skipped a theatrical viewing. The film is nowhere near LOTR but, frankly, I liked this film better than most of the Harry Potter flicks. After watching this first installment I would like to see where the story goes. I've never read the books so I have no preconceived notions about the changes made to facilitiate story flow, unlike LOTR. It is too bad it did so badly at the box office because it is unlikely that we will see the other two films made to complete the trilogy.

It is possible that the film could have been made better but it wasn't nearly as bad as a lot of reviews seemed to indicate.

 

[Malcolm R]

It is too bad it did so badly at the box office because it is unlikely that we will see the other two films made to complete the trilogy.

The worldwide grosses were decent, so it may depend on how the DVD sales end up whether Warner thinks about doing another one. They just have to control the budget and temper expectations, knowing that most of their audience is apparently outside the US.

 

[EricW]

i never read the books and skipped the theatrical run; i recently rented the bluray and i thought the film was a mess. i just didn't care for the story. i could guess that spreading the story might help as it seemed very rushed but it might have just made it a very bad long movie. maybe if the Daniel Craig character was in it more, i don't know. just not my kind of movie. while i'm by no means a Potter fan, those movies are above-average enjoyable.

 

[Hartwig Hanser]

Does anybody know, if the sequel is really dead or may be filmed yet?

 

[Ray H]

There's really been no word. I'd assume it's dead unless there's some official announcement.