His Dark Media
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SherlockChronicles.orgThe Independent reports: Perhaps it has disappeared through a window into another universe, like its characters.
It looked increasingly unlikely yesterday that cinema audiences in this world will get to see the planned film sequels in Philip Pullman's children's fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials.
Sources in the film industry said that plans for a sequel to The Golden Compass appeared to have been put on ice following the fervent Christian protests surrounding the first film, which led to boycotts and box office disappointment in the United States.
Pullman told The Independent that he had not yet been contacted by Shepperton Studios and was not aware of any imminent plans to film the sequel, The Subtle Knife. When the first film was in production last year, he was regularly contacted by Chris Weitz, its writer and director.
"I know everyone would like to see a sequel and I know I'd like to see it. When the first film was in production, I was talking to the studio and to Chris Weitz and producers quite frequently. I'm sure I would be now if the sequel was in production," he said.
Weitz said yesterday he did not want talk about the project while the studio responsible for the first film was refusing to discuss the future of the trilogy.
When The Golden Compass was release last year, New Line Cinema had high hopes for the trilogy as the new The Lord of the Rings, and the sequel was due to be released by the end of 2009.
But then the Christian boycotts started and the film sunk in the US, making a meagre $70m (£35m), although it took a hefty $300m internationally. New Line has since been merged with Warner Brothers.
Pullman said he would be dismayed if the original cast, which included Nicole Kidman and the then 12-year-old lead child star, Dakota Blue Richards, were not able to reprise their roles. "The problem with having a child in the cast is that time goes by very quickly, [and they change]... I would love to see her [Dakota] carry on the story and I'd love to see Nicole Kidman fulfil the full development of her character," he said.
If the sequel to his trilogy, His Dark Materials, was not made with the original cast, Pullman said he would harbour hopes for a sequel in the future with a fresh cast that may not meet the same level of religious protest.
The plot of the three books revolves around a fantasy world where the Reformation has never happened. This parallel universe of talking animals and witches is ruled by an oppressive Catholic institution known as the Magisterium. The challenges to religious institutions become more confrontational with every book in the trilogy, culminating with a war on heaven. Weitz, an American-born Cambridge graduate, has been vociferous in his passion for Pullman's original text, insisting on staying "true" to the trilogy if or when sequels are made. This outspokenness may have added to the studio's wariness.
Pullman said protests in America had done little to help its release, with parents protesting against the allegorical challenges to the Catholic faith. "There was a lot of fuss over that," he said.
Dan Jolin, the features editor of Empire magazine, who accompanied Weitz in the cutting room last October, said at the time that Weitz was determined to make a sequel, having saved material from the first film. Weitz told Jolin that Pullman's trilogy was influenced by Milton, and that Northern Lights, the book on which The Golden Compass is based, "is this rather beautiful idea that God kind of left all these spare bits lying around and that, for all we know, there are other universes".
Michael Gubbins, the editor of Screen International, said it was unlikely that the film could be brought out by next year, especially in a tough box office environment with "trilogy congestion" in following months, but that the franchise was likely to be revisited in the future.
This article has conflicting opinions on where potential sequels for The Golden Compass now stand: one from the author and one from someone in the film industry. Leave us a comment and let's hear your opinion as well!
Comments (19) — Add Yours
one from the author and one from the film industry….....
Who stands for the film industry? The guy from Screen International? What does he to do with the movie? And I think he speaks of a restart in 20years or so.
# Posted by TheRealNeo on 18:28, 18 July 2008
So now we know who to thanks for a trilogy with only the first part…Puritans! |x Anyway, I still think that money is the first obstacle: they hope to gain more, and they were disappointed. Ethical or religious discussions are usually less important for producers than takings.
# Posted by Lyrael on 18:58, 18 July 2008
Er, sorry. I forgot a word. Added now.
# Posted by Phit on 22:04, 18 July 2008
Very very sad. I hope they change their mind. I really do. But if they don’t, they’d damn well better come out with a director’s cut which sticks to its guns as much as possible.
# Posted by JParry on 23:58, 18 July 2008
The Church boycotts didn’t even do that much. Maybe the books just aren’t as popular in the US? And who cares about the US. 300m globally. GIVE US A SECOND FILM!!!!!!!!!!
# Posted by redbaron12190 on 4:01, 19 July 2008
Yeah. Stupid conservatives; I wish I could kill them.
If the triology is not finished by New Line, then that means I’ll have a lot of work to do when I become a film maker…
# Posted by KenBrasai on 12:49, 19 July 2008
This Really is not News to the Fandom it just confirms what we already know that the Sequel has not been greenlighted yet. I agree the film did make over 300M international so I will say this also WB/NL GIVE US THE DARN SEQUELS!!!!!!!!1
# Posted by TowerDragon on 14:03, 19 July 2008
yes this was very sad to read, I mean it’s as if they want to push religion onto people (something that cannot be done) why can’t we all just think and believe what we want and get along?
# Posted by LoveBitesLoveBleeds on 17:48, 19 July 2008
Urgh, it irritates me to no end that such protests would even go on. Talk about making a mountain of an ant-hill. It’s a movie for goodness’ sake. And so what if it draws children to read the book? God forbid (no pun intended) they be one step closer to being more literate and learned and intellectually interested. It’s not a big deal. Believers will stay believers, atheists will stay atheists.
It’s such a let-down that the fate of the sequels should be so bleak. I was so looking forward to them as the story gets even more extraordinary as it goes further. And I really wanted to see Will.
# Posted by Miss Bear on 1:47, 20 July 2008
once i saw the movie i knew it wasn’t going to do very well in the U.S. So i wasn’t very sure if new Line was going to make the rest of the films because they did so bad with THe Golden Compass.
AS for the boycotts i thought it was really stupid they didn’t really do any thing. People should just read the trilogy because it’s a good book and it’s well writeen. It IS Fictional!!!
But jet it has knowledge and meaning, like moralls that every one can live by despite if they are Christion or Muslim or Atheast. That’s the whole point of the Trilogy.
# Posted by missy on 2:25, 21 July 2008
I still feel terrible for Chris Weitz. I believe he really wanted to see the trilogy brought to life. I was disappointed when I saw how disjointed The Golden Compass was due to obvious missing footage. If the next two films get protested out of existence it will be a travesty. There are a lot of reasons not to make a film, but caving to people who have differing opinions is not one of them. I say anti-boycott it. Get as many people as you can to support it.
If that still fails, I’m tempted to go into film school just so I can remake the whole thing in 20 years ;).
# Posted by Boydesy on 13:32, 21 July 2008
Buy the DVDs, so that the studios see the potential of the franchise!
# Posted by TheRealNeo on 15:27, 21 July 2008
I had a feeling that this would happen. Lol, it is funny that they are letting them getting away with their insanity of a “Anti-Narnia” nonsense. I have had it with all of that. =(
# Posted by Dark Fantasies on 16:42, 21 July 2008
I really want Chris to make the two other movies. He is a great fan of the books, and I’m sure he has a plan on how to handle filming the rest of the trilogy, which because of all the over-sensitive Christians is going to be a million times harder to make than TGC… I want Chris as director and script writer, I want Dakota as Lyra before she gets too old, I want Nicole as Mrs. Coulter (she was wonderful), and most of all I want Sam Elliott as Lee!!!
# Posted by AnneMaria on 23:21, 24 July 2008
As Anna Maria and Bodesy I see the very good job, Chris did and he has the idea and a plan for the sequels and he knows what went wrong with TGC (which in my opinion was though a great film). So the sequels can be a sucsess and the faults can be eradicated. And Dakota is aleardy not too old and adding Cidman, Craig, Elliot, not forgetting the designers and costume teams….
I’m still hopefully.
(What bad films I saw this year I won’t mention).
# Posted by frank on 21:59, 25 July 2008
Yes the protests were ridiculous and ignorant, but can we really believe that the were the reason for the film’s failure, and the quiet denial of a sequel? It was not a good film, the script and direction were really very weak, no matter what excuse. Weitz may love the books, but he does not have the ability to carry such a complicated subject matter. I don’t think making The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass would be a good idea considering they double in complications and difficulty. After a dissapointing, weak attempt at The Northern Lights(acting apart, Dakota was great), it would be an insult to the cannon of His Dark Materials to destroy the rest of it, just for the sake of it.
# Posted by crazycobwebs on 0:22, 26 July 2008
Don’t you get it? New Line pulled a boo-boo when they underwrote production costs of The Golden Compass by selling the International Rights. This is why there won’t be any more sequels, in my life time, because there’s no more New Line. Warners gobbled them up last February for this sin of all sins. Don’t count your sequels before the US box office returns and never never sell International Rights to pay Product costs on an unfinished film.
So much for that, now I’m going to ask you to put your “thinking caps” back on. Joss Whendon has done something no one else has, “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”, a Web blast off. With high value codecs we can watch excellent content on our desk, laptop, iPods, whatever. Think of “His Dark Materials” in another medium.
# Posted by drlavelle on 0:21, 27 July 2008
Damned conservatives! Tehy’ve ruined a film trilogy with real potential and thrown it into production hell! I wish I could kill them with my Æsahættr! Or throw them into an abyyss, or many oher deserving fates begging to be enacted on these fanatics.
# Posted by Shadowparticles888 on 12:19, 22 August 2008
The Church has defeated the will of the people.
# Posted by Locke on 16:25, 3 November 2008
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