HisDarkMaterials.org

On the 17th of October, HisDarkMaterials.org was invited to attend a press preview of the new The Golden Compass video game. The event was held at FrankPR's London offices in Camden. The video game is being developed by Shiny Entertainment (Who also created "The Matrix: Path of Neo" and "Enter the Matrix") and is being published by SEGA.

Event write-up and attendance, HisDarkMaterials.org staff: Edd8990

New video game screen captures in photograms.

The demonstrator for the demo was Grant Gie, SEGA's UK marketing manager. The event started off with the screening of the Cannes Film Festival footage of The Golden Compass. This was mostly footage I hadn't seen before, and managed to improve my expectations of the movie. There then followed a brief run down of who the main characters in the universe were, and other various bits of information (Such as explaining what dæmons were) so the press could understand the universe the game is set in. Finally, we got to the info on the game itself, and the demo (The demo we were shown was running on a PS2).

The game, as has been previously reported, is being released on nine platforms. (PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, PSP, DS and mobile). There are 11 levels in the game, 9 of which are taken from the movie, two of which are exclusive to the game. In the game, you will get to control two characters, Iorek and Lyra.

The New York Times has published a lengthy article on the development of The Golden Compass and its importance on the future prospects of New Line Cinema:

Not since Dorothy landed on the witch has a young girl shouldered quite so many worries as 12-year-old Lyra Belacqua.

The fate of the universe, certainly. A movie budget of $180 million, at least. The future course of New Line Cinema, perhaps.

For the last year New Line has been wrestling with its London-based production of “The Golden Compass,” an ambitious fantasy in which Dakota Blue Richards, a schoolgirl with no previous credits, plays the intrepid Lyra. Supported by Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, Ms. Richards’ character is the heroine in what is planned to be the first of three movies based on Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” series of novels, New Line’s answer to Disney’s “Narnia” films.

There have been challenges, including touchy anti-religious themes in the underlying material, a minuet with on-and-off directors and script revisions that continued through late last month. And Ms. Richards is not alone on the learning curve.

Set for release on Dec. 7 “The Golden Compass” is being directed by Chris Weitz, best known as a creator, with his brother Paul and others, of the successful raunch comedy “American Pie.” Mr. Weitz’s closest brush with film fantasy, other than the teenage sex kind, was “Down to Earth,” a 2001 remake of the body-swap comedy “Heaven Can Wait.” New Line, of course, reinvented fantasy with its “Lord of the Rings” series, directed by Peter Jackson. But each of those films cost far less than what is being spent on Mr. Weitz’s movie, the most expensive the studio has ever made.

All of which heightens the drama around a film that comes as the New Line’s co-chairmen, Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne, face contract renewals late next year with the studio’s parent, Time Warner.

Toby Emme rich, New Line’s production president, acknowledged the importance of “The Golden Compass” to the studio. “If it’s a huge hit, I think our stock goes up within the Time Warner empire, and there’s more opportunity,” Mr. Emmerich said. If the film is a disaster, he added, the company’s prospects would likely darken. But he pointed out that New Line, in keeping with past practices, has reduced its financial risk by pre-selling foreign rights to foreign distributors.

Not incidentally, New Line’s economy-minded corporate parent played with the notion of melding this mid-level studio with its much larger Warner Brothers unit before “The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring” erupted six years ago. That idea could again prove attractive, if New Line, currently a distant seventh in terms of domestic box office receipts, doesn’t improve a record that has only lately perked up a bit with “Hairspray” and “Rush Hour 3.”

With “The Golden Compass” much still hangs in the balance. Its filmmakers completed a four-month shoot in England, Switzerland and Norway last January, and Mr. Weitz screened a cut for top New Line executives in May.

But as recently as last month Mr. Weitz, who wrote the script’s current version, following earlier drafts by the playwright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard, was revising scenes that set up the movie’s complicated story about a girl’s struggle against repressive authority.

Mr. Weitz, speaking from London, said the latest changes were largely intended to bring clarity to a tale that depends on obscure elements, including a powerful cosmic substance known simply as “dust.” “Dust is kind of like our version of the force,” said Mr. Weitz, referring to a bit of “Star Wars” mythology. “But somehow the force is much easier to explain.”

These revisions are just the latest step in a 12-year effort by Hollywood to harness the energy of the immensely popular books — about five million copies have been sold in the United States, according to a spokesman for Random House Children’s Books, their American publisher, and more than 12 million worldwide — which was long held back by their idiosyncrasies, which include the presence of an animal companion, or daemon, for every human character.

Originally published in 1995 in Britain as “His Dark Materials I: Northern Lights,” “The Golden Compass” begins at a vaguely familiar Oxford University, where the author attended Exeter College. But technology has veered toward so-called anbaric lights and fanciful zeppelins. The North is full of witches and armored bears. And a twisted church and its allies have gotten into the business of separating children from their soul-mate daemons, for reasons fraught with deeper metaphysics than Hollywood can typically digest.

No fan of C. S. Lewis’s Christianity-infused “Narnia” novels, Mr. Pullman, who drew inspiration for his story from Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” has publicly declared that his own books were intended to undermine Christian belief. In the trilogy’s first installment, however, the core of Mr. Pullman’s philosophy, which involves humanity’s confrontation of a less-than-perfect deity, is far less apparent than is his taste for complicated adventure. (Ms. Kidman, who is Catholic, has explained her participation, saying that she would never sign up for the films if she thought they were anti-Catholic.)

“As a film it was a huge challenge,” said Deborah Forte, president of Scholastic Entertainment and one of the movie’s producers.

Though she waited for Mr. Pullman to finish the third book before approaching studios about funding for a script and production, she found virtually no interest, even though the first “Harry Potter” film was about to reach theaters.

“Everybody said it had to be animated,” Ms. Forte recalled. Hollywood interest sparked, however, when Mr. Pullman in early 2002 won the prestigious Whitbread literary prize, just as Mr. Jackson’s first “Lord of the Rings,” released in December of 2001, was pointing toward new possibilities in visual effects.

New Line soon took on the project. Mr. Stoppard, a fan of the books, as Ms. Forte recalled, then said he would like to adapt them. In Mr. Stoppard’s versions the books’ religion-touched heavies were massaged into more generalized, authoritarian villains, as they remain in the final film. (Ms. Forte, said Mr. Pullman is comfortable with the shift. Attempts to reach him weren’t successful.)

Mr. Weitz, another fan, next appeared with an unsolicited 40-page treatment. He was hired to write, and then to direct, the movie, but had a failure of nerve in 2004 and pulled out, largely because he feared the long commitment to a complicated production.

He remained as writer, however, while Anand Tucker (“Shopgirl”), another director with little background in the complicated world of special effects, came on board. With the film already in preproduction, Mr. Tucker left in the spring of 2006, citing creative differences. According to Ms. Forte, he appeared pointed toward a smaller, less exciting film than New Line hoped to make. And Mr. Weitz, who had continued to work on the script, was soon back in place.

“I think Chris realized that if he didn’t come back in and step up, maybe the movie wasn’t going to get made,” Mr. Emmerich said. “We really didn’t have a Plan B at that point.”

The project’s extraordinary expense was due in large part to the business of the daemons, which had to be inserted in not just major set pieces but even simple dialogue scenes.

“It’s like directing that character,” Ms. Forte said of the myriad appearances by a snow leopard, jackal, ferret, mouse, ermine, chameleon, golden monkey, various birds and others, not to mention those non-daemonic armored bears.

A 10-minute sequence shown by New Line at the recent Comic-Con fantasy convention and elsewhere has been well received, and the studio is waiting for a script from Hossein Amini (“Killshot”) for a second film, based on the second book, “The Subtle Knife.”

Mr. Weitz said that whether that film is made, and whether he ends up directing it, will depend heavily on how “The Golden Compass” performs.

“My whole plan with the movie has been not to think past December 7th,” he said. “Otherwise I would go completely insane.”

This article from Entertainment Weekly mentions the removal of the religious themes in the movies, and confirms that Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman have signed on for The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

Fall Movie Preview

Clergymen who kidnap children. Witches who aren't wicked. Even a pair of sexually ambiguous angels. If you thought Harry Potter was blasphemous, wait till you get a look at the His Dark Materials trilogy. New Line's $150 million adaptation of the first in Philip Pullman's series of theologically trippy novels, The Golden Compass follows 12-year-old Lyra Belacqua (Richards) as she sets off on an epic odyssey through a fantastical parallel universe inhabited by armor-wearing polar bears and shape-shifting daemons.

Translating the book's complex metaphysical multiverse to the screen would make even the most CGI-savvy filmmaker jittery, let alone one whose biggest previous accomplishment was a comedy about a kid who has sex with a pastry. “To be honest, I didn't think I'd survive it,” Weitz (American Pie) confesses. “It seemed like the kind of thing that could break a person's mind. I mean, this movie is a megillah.”

Indeed, after a trip to New Zealand to observe Peter Jackson on the set of a certain megillah called The Lord of the Rings, Weitz got cold feet and left the picture; he only returned to the job after his replacement Anand Tucker (Shopgirl), ran into creative difficulties with the studio. “I'm both the first and the third director on the film,” he says. “But I did a lot of growing in the interim.”

He's also the movie's screenwriter, which means he'll get the hate mail if Pullman's fans decides it veers too far from the book. “It follows the novel as closely as it can,” promises Craig, who grew an un-Bondlike beard to play Lord Asriel, Lyra's explorer uncle, “but there's still a lot missing. That's always the case when you adapt a movie. You have to focus more on the storytelling.”

Conspicuously absent, for instance, is any reference to Catholicism; instead, the malevolent organisation that snatches children to surgically remove their souls is referred to in the movie only as the Magisterium. “It has been watered down a little,” admits Kidman, who stars as the icily evil Mrs. Coulter. Not that she's complaining. Quite the contrary. “I was raised Catholic,” she says. “The Catholic Church is part of my essence. I wouldn't be able to do this film if I thought it were at all anti-Catholic.” She wouldn't be able to do any possible sequels, either, but Kidman and Craig have both signed on for two.

We're proud to present the preproduction movie of The Golden Compass. It's basically a run-through of the whole movie before — as the title implies — any shooting was done, so the material consists of storyboard sketches, scene tests, and preliminary CGI. It provides a wonderful view into how the movie was out together, and come to life. Be warned, this 27 minute movie contains spoilers for those unfamiliar with the storyline.

Thanks go to our members situ, for bringing this to our attention, and Pylse, for helping us publish this.

View the preproduction movie.

Due to YouTube's limitations it has been split into 3 parts.

Movies on MTV.com reports: There's another character that has been written with Kidman in mind: Mrs. Coulter from the "His Dark Materials" fantasy-book series, which is headed to the big screen. Author Philip Pullman has suggested he had Kidman on the brain when he wrote the manipulative character, leading her to laugh: "I don't know if that was an insult or a compliment!"

Kidman will play the character against Craig's Lord Asriel in the film adaptation of "The Golden Compass," the first "His Dark Materials" installment. But before we seem them working against each other in the fantasy epic, they'll be onscreen in "The Invasion," the update of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

So you might think, after having seen Nicole Kidman in — count 'em — three movies with ex-hubby Tom Cruise, and knowing she has two new ones with Daniel Craig on the way (including this week's "The Invasion"), that her hunky co-stars have a lot to do with her film choices. Not true, the Aussie actress insisted during a break from her latest project, "Australia." Though she might be the highest-paid actress in Hollywood — while Julia Roberts is on a break, at least — Kidman doesn't place too much importance on who gets to appear alongside her on the big screen.

"I will sign on to a movie, having not read the script, just based on the director," Kidman said. "That's just the way I do it. Obviously, filmmaking is all about the director. That's their medium. And the actor is just one of the tools in the creation of the vision. You're in the hands of that person, so you have to be careful who that is."

That's why, she explained, she's currently shooting the pre-World War II epic "Australia" — not because she couldn't resist the lure of co-star Hugh Jackman (and really, who couldn't?), but because she couldn't resist director Baz Luhrmann. "I did 'Moulin Rouge' with Bazzie," Kidman said, "and we're closer than ever. We've known each other for 15 years, and I love working with him. I adore him and his wife, who does all the costumes and production design. It's a family affair. And he's a genius, Baz. He's inspired and unusual and a complete original."

Plus it probably doesn't hurt that Baz wrote the role — an English aristocrat who inherits a cattle ranch amid terrestrial warfare and bombings — with Kidman in mind. "It's a beautiful way to work," she said.

There's another character that has been written with Kidman in mind: Mrs. Coulter from the "His Dark Materials" fantasy-book series, which is headed to the big screen. Author Philip Pullman has suggested he had Kidman on the brain when he wrote the manipulative character, leading her to laugh: "I don't know if that was an insult or a compliment!"

Kidman will play the character against Craig's Lord Asriel in the film adaptation of "The Golden Compass," the first "His Dark Materials" installment. But before we seem them working against each other in the fantasy epic, they'll be onscreen in "The Invasion," the update of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

Kidman says she sees a few parallels between the two projects (and no, not just because she gets to make out with Craig in both of them). "There are these fascinating primal emotions involved when you've got a mother protecting her child," she said, "though in 'Golden Compass,' I'm batting for the other team."

In "The Invasion," the son of Kidman's character seems to be the key to immunity against invaders from another world, while in "Compass," her character's daughter seems to be the key to finding those other worlds to begin with. And in "The Invasion," Kidman is concerned about the people around her becoming increasingly disconnected from each other, while in "Compass," she's concerned about people being disconnected from their own selves — after they get severed from their souls. Never mind that her character is the one responsible for the severing. "There's something running through me at the moment that's choosing to express itself artistically with those themes," Kidman laughed. "Strangely enough."

The two films mark Kidman's entrance into the sci-fi/fantasy field, and she said she's surprised it's taken her so long, since she's a big fan of the genre. "I'm actually a fan of all genre films," she said, "be it thrillers, romantic comedy or science fiction. I just really like it when they can nail the genre, when I can read the script and say, 'OK, this is fascinating.' "

What was especially fascinating to her about "Invasion" is how even though it's been remade several times over the years, it has had something new to say each time.

"I think this time it's about the homogenizing of our culture," she said. "We're trying to devalue our emotions and make ourselves far more of a collective sort of group of people that don't have individual reactions to things. But at the same time, I see the film very much about people reaching out to each other under extraordinary duress, and the power of that, and the need for that.

"But I also have another film coming out ['Margot at the Wedding'] which has nothing to do with the state of the world," she laughed. "It's just about sisters and family, and the intricacies of relationships, so I guess I have erratic taste. 'Invasion' is fun, it's about action. It's big, as is 'Golden Compass.' 'Margot at the Wedding' is small. And being able to do both kinds of films is one of the great gifts you get as an actor, if you get the chance."

So she just wants to do ... everything?

"Bring it on!" she laughed.

The official Golden Compass blog has been expanded to contain a lot more side-information about the movies. The newly added content includes storyline information, a video and images section, character and cast bios, design and filming locations.

The video section features a movie with outtakes from the footage we've seen at the Cannes Filmfestival, focussing on Panserbjørne visual effects. Although it is all footage that has been released before, it is interesting to see all the Panserbjørne outtakes pasted together.

Watch the video here

The New Line presentation at Comic-Con 2007 screened a special 5 minute long extended preview. It's basically an edited version of the 10 minute preview which we saw in Cannes.

The preview includes a lot of cinematics, dialogue and more dæmon detail than ever seen before.

View the extended preview.

Check Yahoo's page for alternative formats.

MTV Movies Blog reports: Our team is on the ground in San Diego, and we’re the first inside Comic-Con!

Our friends at New Line were nice enough to sneak us in a side door and let us tour their massive display for December’s “The Golden Compass.” And to even call it a “booth” is ridiculous, because it’s big enough to house the cast of a Steve Martin family film.

View the photos

While the hall was empty, we ran between a 10-foot-tall statue of Iorek the grizzly bear (he feels fuzzy), displays of one-of-a-kind elaborate costumes worn by Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, and even got to hold the Golden Compass itself (it weighs like 8 pounds!).

Some 140,000 people will come through here this weekend, see these props and get their photos inserted in the film’s poster. And after experiencing it all, I can honestly say it’s a glorious geek necessity this weekend.

Animation Magazine reports: Noted CG and vfx house Framestore CFC will use REALVIZ Movimento for its jam-packed 2007-2008 production pipeline, including His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass. REALVIZ Movimento is a state-of-the-art video-based motion capture solution, “powered by smart,” REALBIZ’ powerful automatic 3D tracking engine. REALVIZ Movimento was unveiled at SIGGRAPH 2006 in Boston, and offers the unique capability to capture the motion of any non-rigid object (humans, animals) in post-production, from synchronized image sequences with total flexibility—starting from two cameras, to as many as needed, cameras can be fixed for moving, of different frame rates and definitions, and no need for a mo-cap studio.

Framestore CFC Mo-Caps with Movimento
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
By: Ramin Zahed
Noted CG and vfx house Framestore CFC will use REALVIZ Movimento for its jam-packed 2007-2008 production pipeline. REALVIZ Movimento is a state-of-the-art video-based motion capture solution, “powered by smart,” REALBIZ’ powerful automatic 3D tracking engine.

REALVIZ Movimento was unveiled at SIGGRAPH 2006 in Boston, and offers the unique capability to capture the motion of any non-rigid object (humans, animals) in post-production, from synchronized image sequences with total flexibility—starting from two cameras, to as many as needed, cameras can be fixed for moving, of different frame rates and definitions, and no need for a mo-cap studio.

The Framestore CFC work schedule for 2007/2008 includes: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Batman: The Dark Knight which will be out in 2008.

"Movimento is a new generation of Mocap tool—easier to use and employing clever built-in algorithms that save us production time, allowing a quick turn-around for those shots," says Christophe Meslin, Framestore’s head of systems support, Framestore CFC.

"We have been close partners with Framestore CFC for a number of years now and are extremely honored that their team of incredibly talented, award-winning artists have chosen REALVIZ Movimento for their work on the next Batman project, amongst others," adds François Belot, REALVIZ SFX Manager.

For further details visit http://movimento.realviz.com.

New Line handed out production notes to the press at Cannes; these notes contain a huge amount of information on the process of adapting The Golden Compass, and about the cast, crew, and creative team of the film.

View the production notes

New Line has released a new teaser trailer for The Golden Compass.  The trailer has a few new snippets we've not seen yet  including Lyra spitting at the Tartar guards in Bolvangar and a scene of Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter about to kiss.

View the official teaser trailer.

Check Apple's page for alternative formats.

Cinematical reports: The recent trailer release gave us plenty of reasons to geek out over the promise of The Golden Compass, New Line Cinema's winter tentpole and hopeful torchbearer in the franchise department: The talking polar bear, the emergence of another young talent named Dakota, Daniel Craig's reunion with fallen Bond babe Eva Green, Daniel Craig's (post-Invasion) reunion with Nicole Kidman... Now we have some pretty artwork to feast our eyes upon, along with four character posters that are essentially puzzle pieces enlarged from the key art. Not that we mind: Check out the shoulders on Kidman! Salty. Green's poster gives us a nice view, too, of the scenic parallel universe. I suppose the ladies will dig on Mr. Craig's Wright brother-in-the-wilderness look as well. And yeah, the kid on the bear's cute and all. Safe to say this one's already shaping up to appease all ages...

View the posters

ZeeNews.com reports: New Bond star Daniel Craig showed just how dangerous he can be, when he inadvertently left a crewmember with broken bones on the sets of his new movie The Golden Compass.  Craig, who plays the character of Lord Asriel in the movie adaptation of Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, caused the accident when fiming a scene in Oxford he ran straight into the path of a rickshaw that was carrying the cameraman. The rickshaw swerved to avoid hitting Craig, and as a result the cameraman was thrown out from it.

Daniel Craig accidentally leaves crewmember with broken bones 
 
 London, July 13: New Bond star Daniel Craig showed just how dangerous he can be, when he inadvertently left a crewmember with broken bones on the sets of his new movie The Golden Compass.

Criag, who plays the character of Lord Asriel in the movie adaptation of Philip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy, caused the accident when fiming a scene in Oxford he ran straight into the path of a rickshaw that was carrying the cameraman. The rickshaw swerved to avoid hitting Craig, and as a result the cameraman was thrown out from it.

He fell hard on the ground and was left with a broken arm and a collarbone. He was immediately rushed to hospital, where he was treated.

"The poor guy had no chance. He was filming Daniel running down the street in a certain action scene," the Daily Mail quoted a source, a saying. "The poor guy was in agony and Daniel immediately went to help him, he could see he was very hurt indeed. He was scraped up quickly and an ambulance was called," the source said. The insider added that shooting has been delayed a bit because of the accident. "Obviously such an incident would hold the making of the film up because it is the producers' priority that their staff are well."

The movie also stars Nicole Kidman, John Hurt and Kevin Bacon. It will also see Craig appearing once again with Bond girl Eva Green.

The Golden Compass crew has landed in Oxford again for another shooting session. Ted Weiland was in the neighbourhood, and he shot a few pictures. They include mostly pictures of lights, green screens and scenery.

They are available on his Flickr page. Filming will continue tomorrow, so keep an eye on Ted's Flickr for an update!

IGN reports: Currently slotted for a Boxing Day release in Australia (and December 7 in most other, more fortunate regions), The Golden Compass is the first of three films based on author Philip Pullman's celebrated and cherished all-ages fantasy trilogy, 'His Dark Materials'. Since the public trailer contains moments expanded on in the sneak preview, that's our focus for this feature. Unlike the immediate start of the public trailer, the extended look at The Golden Compass opens with a fly-over of Oxford. As the bronze airship passes silently over the art-deco-machina, alternate 1920s cityscape, you'll push aside your doubts. The Golden Compass and the subsequent releases are going to be fine films. This will not be another Eragon pratfall, nor the overblown fluff offered by The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

The Golden Compass AU Eyes-on Preview

Get a taste of the next big fantasy trilogy coming to theatres this Christmas.

Currently slotted for a Boxing Day release in Australia (and December 7 in most other, more fortunate regions), The Golden Compass is the first of three films based on author Philip Pullman's celebrated and cherished all-ages fantasy trilogy, 'His Dark Materials'. It follows the adventures of a rough-edged and rebellious girl named Lyra Belacqua, an inhabitant of a parallel Europe, where all humans have inseparable animal companions known as Daemons, and religion hinges around a mysterious universal substance known as Dust.

When Lyra's schoolyard companion, Roger, gets kidnapped, she sets out on a rescue mission, aided by a compass-like device known as an Alethiometer - an exceptionally rare and powerful truth-telling tool. Across three books, Pullman's tale takes on impressively mature themes with depth and sensitivity. He tackles and carefully questions religion versus atheism through his critical look at The Magisterium; the story also deals with class values and race, and tells most of the tale through the perspective of a young girl, which adds a dose of youth-friendly charisma and naivety.

We were shown two compilations of footage - the first, eight minutes of partial sequences from the first film (adapted and directed by 'About a Boy's Chris Weitz, cut together like an extended trailer. The second, which will be available online in a matter of days, is the public teaser. Both reveal about as much as each other in terms of locations and broad storytelling.

The public trailer begins with a very familiar image - The One Ring, spinning and turning through the air. It's a quiet reminder of the current reigning king of fantasy cinema. However, as it falls, the ring morphs into an Alethiometer. New Line (The Lord of the Rings' parent company) knows what it's sitting on with this series. The Rings parallel is a bold statement, but from what we saw, we're profoundly confident that they're right on the money.

Since the public trailer contains moments expanded on in the sneak preview, that's our focus for this feature. Unlike the immediate start of the public trailer, the extended look at The Golden Compass opens with a fly-over of Oxford. As the bronze airship passes silently over the art-deco-machina, alternate 1920s cityscape, you'll push aside your doubts. The Golden Compass and the subsequent releases are going to be fine films. This will not be another Eragon pratfall, nor the overblown fluff offered by The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

We got our first look at Jordan College's halls, offices and grounds - Lyra hiding inside the closet and peering out at Lord Asriel as he gesticulates on Dust, The Magisterium and his intended journey. All of this feels like it has been carefully and accurately pulled from Pullman's pages. Of course, we only got to view snippets of each sequence, so it's impossible to assess the depth of the dialogue to any major degree.

In the film, Lyra is played by newcomer Dakoda Blue Richards. Our initial fears in casting an unknown in a lead role of this importance have been sated. Richards has definite screen presence and a much darker and more mature tone of voice than her slight build suggests. It's a relief, to be sure.

Lyra is shown tiptoeing over the tiled rooftops of her Oxford school and home, Jordan College, with her Daemon, Pantalaimon. At once, we were relieved to see that Daemons are being handled with the same seriousness and presence of Gollum. These are not computer-generated cartoon characters. These are CG lead characters with enough personality to not only hold your attention, but steal scenes.

Case in point: Iorek, the Armoured Bear. His debut in the extended cut of the trailer sees him bursting through the walls of a wooden shack in a small snow-covered village, to the shrieking dismay of the locals. While his face is expressive, with surprisingly convincing lip movement, there is no mistaking that Iorek is animal before all else, regardless of his ability to speak.

For fans of the book, there were countless subtle references, lifted directly from the richly descriptive pages of Pullman's tomes. Everything in Oxford is cast in an amber hue. Buildings are seemingly forged in brass and pieced together with care, brick by brick. Glass arches, supported by brass beams, hint at the balance between the pseudo-20s-era architecture and high-technology. In fact, the term we're being careful to shy away from using is 'steampunk'. That's not quite a perfect fit - there is far more steam than punk, but it comes close.

This was also our first opportunity to hear a sample of the dialogue and critically, how well the actors have delivered it to the screen. It's still not clear how much is a direct lift from the story or simply a paraphrase, but given that master playwright Tom Stoppard's script was rejected, we're guessing the current draft must be half-way decent in the least.

Some scenes, such as Serafina Pekkala's moderately wary and hostile interaction with Lyra, warning her of impending conflict, was delivered with panache. Other times, particularly with one of the Jordan College Fellows' snide "That's heresy!" quip, the delivery came across as too throaty and self-important. Part of this keeps with the self-importance of these side-characters on the council, but part of it is surely poor delivery. Of course, it's far too early to judge, but we're still very confident that the acting will be on par with the Rings trilogy.

Nicole Kidman, the impossibly pretty face who requires no introduction, is the ultimate casting choice for the severe and bewitching Mrs. Coulter. Although we're not sold on her rather meek voice in the scenes we sampled, she clearly gets into the menacing character later in the film, when confronting Lyra and pressing her for the Alethiometer. We also see her tucking Lyra into bed, attending a regal function and displaying her alluring powers over other guests in attendance.

Equally menacing is her golden monkey Daemon. Its inclusion is instrumental - given that Pantalaimon and Iorek were handled with skill, we were pleased that the Golden Monkey comes across as just as warped and barely-constrained as at was in the novel. Watching it pull at the wings of a butterfly-form Daemon is gut-wrenching in its suggestive cruelty.

Daniel Craig, the Blonde Bond-shell (sorry) from Casino Royale, sports a beard and looks very much the part as Lord Asriel - scientist, accomplished explorer and Lyra's uncle. Again, having seen him addressing his panel of intellectuals (taken from early in the novel), we think he's perfectly cast. He's got the sophistication to make his status as the height of critical intellectual society credible.

We see him operating the slide-projecting Photogram in his Jordan College office, as well as operating out of his mountain research lab, where he and Lyra discuss the importance of his work and her place in it.

We were delighted with the decision to cast Sam Elliott as the gunslinging balloonist Lee Scoresby. Seen most recently as the cancer-addled Marlboro Man in Thank You For Smoking and as The Stranger who narrated The Big Lebowski, Elliott is the ultimate dirt-kicking cowpoke. His presence adds instant credibility, working well as a substitute father figure and travelling companion to Lyra.

The Gyptians in their boat-village shantytown are pulled straight from the pages of the book. Jim Carter plays the ultimate crook-nosed John Faa - leader of the gypsy community. We loved the portrayal of the boats, tied together and sporting ramshackle canvas sails. Again, if you've read the books, you'll appreciate the accuracy.

Witches play a major role in Lyra's world. The dark and ethereal beauties have less in common with the wrinkled crones of traditional witch mythos, and more with the besotted elves in Tolkien's Middle Earth. One in particular, Serafina Pekkala, takes a pivotal role throughout the series. In the film, she's played by Eva Green - seen most recently as the brunette temptress in Casino Royale, opposite Daniel Craig, also in The Golden Compass.

Blending old-world style and lavish sets with seemingly incongruous futuristic airships, tri-wheeled carts and other impossibly streamlined technological creations, The Golden Compass looks striking and fully-imagined. We were particularly impressed with the portrayal of the North - there are some impressive icy vistas, and the titular Northern Lights playing overhead makes us long for the arguably more subtle 'Northern Lights' moniker instead of The Golden Compass.

Watching Lyra gallop bareback on Iorek's bear-back sealed the experience for us. When a coven of witches swooped down to begin battle on the frozen tundra at sundown to startlingly macabre and intense effect, we realised that The Golden Compass may truly collect the fantasy-trilogy-torch that The Lord of the Rings has been loath to pass. December cannot come soon enough.