HisDarkMaterials.org

BBC News reports: A private view. An untrodden walk. A secret spot. Many of us want to be the first to stumble across a special place when taking time out from our everyday lives, even if it's just a hop and a skip off the beaten track.  So where might they go? To mark British Tourism Week, the Magazine has asked some household names for their picks of off-beat spots to visit.

Novelist Philip Pullman suggests the canal tow path in Oxford.  "Its winding route takes in the bohemian suburb of Jericho, which featured in my His Dark Material trilogy. The canal tow path is a very attractive walk. You can start in the city and follow it as far as Wolvercote, or go in the other direction down Castle Mill Stream through the city. It takes some really interesting turns and twists until it meets the Thames nearby."

Finally we received the footage from our visit to the set of The Golden Compass on January 23^rd 2007.

Read our original set report.

A big thanks to Samwise for helping out with the editing of the footage!

View the set visit footage.

The Sunday Times writes: The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival starts on March 20. Among the highlights will be Philip Pullman introducing the first scenes from The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman. Pullman reveals his feelings at the prospect of seeing His Dark Materials on screen.

Since the cinema first came into being 100 years ago, most novelists have written with the knowledge of how stories work on the screen. Many of them have written with the awareness, and sometimes the hope, that the novel they’re writing might be adapted for the cinema. Some even write the screenplay alongside the novel so they can sell it straight away.

The Oxford Mail reports: Tickets are selling fast for the Oxford Literary Festival which will bring thousands of book lovers to the city later this month.

Highlights this year include an appearance by Oxford author Philip Pullman, who will be talking about how his prize-winning book Northern Lights is being turned into a film starring Nicole Kidman. Organisers are hoping those attending the Northern Lights event will be able to see exclusive preview footage. Some of the scenes were filmed in Christ Church, where the festival is based.

Angie Prysor-Jones, a spokesman for the festival, said: "Tickets are selling very well - we are slightly up on the same point last year and it promises to be a very good year with a very strong programme, covering politics, history, fiction and children's books. There are still tickets available for the Philip Pullman event at the Town Hall and we are hopeful that footage from the new film will be shown."

We are proud to announce that today, the first day that you could officially buy shares for The Butterfly Tattoo film, around 3000 shares of the total 4000 were sold.

This means that we have already raised a stunning €150,000! That's $200,000, or £100,000!

If you still want to financially take part in this amazing endeavour you'd better hurry up and buy some shares.

Visit the official website for more information.

Daily Mail columnist Baz Bamigboye mentions in an article about Nicole Kidman that the marketing campaign for The Golden Compass will be launched at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman are announced to attend to the festival.

Although details have not yet been announced by New Line Cinema, this confirms earlier speculation that they are set to the launch the marketing campaign for the film at Cannes.

Variety.com spoke with Darren Epstein, executive Vice-President of toy company Corgi Intl., about his high expectations for the tie-in toy line for The Golden Compass, which will launch along with the movie in December 2007.

The stakes are just as high for his company as they are for New Line, Epstein says. He also adds that everyone on the set of the movie is very dedicated and that everyone is doing their best to make the franchise work.

Read the full article

Playfuls.com reports on the Golden Compass game briefly, but also posts two screenshots: one of Iorek fending off wolves with Lyra on his back and another of Lyra in Arctic gear in a room which may be on a ship. The article also reveals that there is an official website for the game.  Unfortunately, there is very little on the site so far.

BusinessWire reports: SEGA® of America Inc. and SEGA® Europe Ltd. today revealed details regarding the development of the video game adaptation of the highly anticipated theatrical release, The Golden Compass, based on the first book in the award-winning trilogy, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. The game is being developed for multiple platforms and will ship in fall 2007, just prior to the opening of the New Line Cinema motion picture on December 7, 2007. Featuring pivotal environments from the movie, the vivid characters are brought to interactive life, featuring the likenesses of the movie’s impressive cast, which includes Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel and newcomer Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra Belacqua.

Another set report of the press event that took place in London on the 23^td of January.

UGO writes: While set visits usually keep you within the confines of North America, it's always cool when a flight takes you across the pond. New Line Cinema extended an invitation to the online community to head to London, England, where the studio was filming two upcoming projects, The Golden Compass and Inkheart. As of late, New Line has been reveling in the aftermath of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and, with the hope that fans will love a three-part setup, the studio has taken to adapting the fantasy works of Philip Pullman and Cornelia Funke into two distinct trilogies. After touching down in England, the first set we explored was The Golden Compass, the first movie in the His Dark Materials trilogy by Pullman, starring newcomer Dakota Blue Richards, Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman and the new Bond, Daniel Craig, along with his Casino Royale co-star, Eva Green.

Scholastic has informed us that they'll be publishing two new editions of the His Dark Materials books.

The left one features identical content but sports a cover which will supposedly appeal to the younger readers.

The second new edition is a refreshed version of the classic British edition, this time with updated (foil) cover art; these books also contain the appendix added in the 10^th anniversary editions.

View the new editions in Photograms.

Philip Pullman and producer Deborah Forte will be discussing the transition of The Golden Compass from book to film. The discussion will be chaired by Mark Lawson, a presenter for BBC Arts.

The event will take place on Saturday the 24^th of March, in the Town Hall; starting at 2PM. Tickets are £16,00 for adults and £10,00 for children.

For more information please see the official website.

London Theatre Guide reports: The National [Theatre] has appointed author Philip Pullman and director of the British Museum Neil MacGregor to the board. Pullman, whose His Dark Materials trilogy was adapted for the National stage in 2003, commented: “I am very happy to have been invited to join the Board of the National Theatre, a place where I have had some of the most profound and the most enjoyable experiences of my theatre-going life. It’s a great privilege to be able to contribute to the working of one of the great national cultural treasures, and I look forward very much to learning more about it.”

The Guardian asked Philip Pullman why he began writing, and why he still does.

What made you want to write when you were starting out?
The desire to have a story in which I liked everything and not just parts of it.

What makes you write now?
Habit.

Playthings has an extensive review online of the American International Toy Fair. Here's what they had to say about the His Dark Materials related merchandise.

Corgi also is previewing its extensive launch of product tied to The Golden Compass, the first chapter in Philip Pullman's sophisticated young-adult fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials. The much-awaited film from New Line and Scholastic about 12-year-old Lyra Belacqua's journey to the Northern Lights to rescue a kidnapped friend features shape- shifting animal familiars, talking armored polar bears, and dozens of intriguing characters, which will be represented in products for both kids and adults, Allen says.