HisDarkMaterials.org

Our friends at QuesteOscureMaterie.it have alerted us to a series of images scans from the tie-in book "The World of The Golden Compass." Notably, these scans feature some images from the now-misplaced ending of The Golden Compass, including an image of the city beyond the aurora, a map of Lyra's world, and scenes of Billy Costa with his mother.

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A columnist for FOX News, who has seen about half an hour of footage (Cannes preview and some production material) from The Golden Compass, expects that the film will "without a doubt be the big holiday smash hit for which Hollywood is so desperate". The columnist also mentions hearing the possibility that UK band Coldplay might contribute to the film's soundtrack. If true, then it would appear likely to be played over the closing credits of the film similar to the use of songs in the soundtracks to New Line's previous film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings.

 

MSN Video have added a new behind-the-scenes featurette on the witches of the Golden Compass universe similar to the earlier featurette on dæmons. Director Chris Weitz and Eva Green, who plays the witch Serafina Pekkala are interviewed with Eva talking about her experiences of portraying the witch in flight. A scene of her together with Tom Courtenay, who plays Serafina's ex-lover Farder Coram, is also shown.

 

The Chicago Sun-Times has a couple of articles on Philip Pullman who will be a part of the Chicago Humanities Festival. He talks about the film ("It looks fabulous"), his critics, comparisons with Tolkien and C.S. Lewis and more:

• Author's next chapter 
• Questions of life and death

The LA Times has published an extensive feature on the controversies surrounding the film adaptation of The Golden Compass: In adapting Philip Pullman's novel, New Line is in a tight spot between the book's true-believer following and those who find it anti-religious.

The Official Movie Quiz Book provides never before seen pictures and information on changes and clarifications regarding the movie. We also bring attention to other items of upcoming merchandise related to the movie such as PEZ dispensers, board games, trading cards, dolls and more!

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.

In August, our friends at the French His Dark Materials website, Cittàgazze.com conducted an interview with Pullman. Below is a transcript of the interview, which includes a number of interesting insights into Pullman's Oxford life and his work with The Golden Compass movie, and other great questions. Translation provided by Cittàgazze.com, with slight edits, from original source, as well as an English version.

Back in August, our friends from the Israeli HDM community HDM.co.il had a meeting and interview with His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman. The following is a write-up of the meeting and subsequent news gathered from speaking with the author. Interview conducted by Udi and Yeal. Translation from original copy provided by Udi, with some edits for clarity.

October 19th marks His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman's Birthday, and we'd like to wish him all the best. With help from some of our friends in the sraf.org network, we've gathered together a small "bundle of material" for fans of the author to discover.

His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman will be at a Barnes & Noble in New York City on November 1 at a book signing event. The event is open to the public and will take place Nov. 1 at 7:00 pm EST.

Earlier this week, HisDarkMaterials.org was invited to Los Angeles for a Visual Effects (VFX) event at Rhythm & Hues, a first-of-its-kind gathering for the studio. The 20 year old award-winning VFX studio came into prominence with its Best Effects award in Visual Effects for the 1995 movie Babe. Rhythm & Hues is also the genius behind the visual effects-charged 2005 Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe movie, and the upcoming Mummy 3 movie, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. For The Golden Compass, Rhythm & Hues created VFX for all the dæmon work, the spy-flys, and Dust itself. The Golden Compass is the largest project Rhythm & Hues has handled yet, with nearly 800 shots produced (about 600 of which made the final cut), and a studio effort of about 500 staff members in both Los Angeles and in India.

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HisDarkMaterials.org's pleased to announce that we'll be giving away one copy of the excellent Discovering The Golden Compass book (read our review) inscribed by author George Beahm, every day.

[contest is closed now]
Please include your dæmon name and dæmon form.

Each day two winners will be randomly selected and notified by email. Only one entry per member per day. Only one book will be given per person. This contest runs until December 31, 2007.

Remember, this contest runs until December 31st! (North-American members only)

Author George Beahm:

These books get shipped in between other obligations [...] What you're getting: a copy of the book signed by me and by artist Tim Kirk; an inscription by me to you and your daemon; two randomly selected GOLDEN COMPASS trading cards from Inkworks; several frames of the GOLDEN COMPASS movie trailer in an acetate sleeve; and a signed print by Tim Kirk of his "Lyra in Oxford" painting. All of these items arrive in a plastic bag for protection and they're shipped in a bubble-wrap bag by media mail (US Postal Service). Delivery is probably 1-3 weeks, depending on how far you live from the East Coast.

This offer is only open to our North American members. Everyone else stay tuned for global contests in the future!

Following up on the stir that Chris Weitz' statement regarding the ending of The Golden Compass has been causing, the book's author Philip Pullman had the following comforting words to say; reminding us that change is not always bad.

The final trailer of The Golden Compass has just been launched at a big event held at Rockfeller Center, NYC hosted by Sam Elliot. The trailer has just been shown on giant screens above the ice rink at 8:30 EST. Subsequentially, the trailer has been released online for the rest of us who aren't there at the party. Watch it here below.