Amph His Dark Materials

Dolph Lungren? Or is he busy being a nuclear scientist now?

 

They managed to do a good job with the Lion in Narnia. Any thoughts on Liam Neeson as Iorek? He might be able to do an accent (I remember Harrison Ford doing what I thought was a good one in K-19 a few years ago, but I can't remember if Neeson did it as well).

 

Nemesis, I agree - a big part of this movie is going to have to be how well they portray Iorek's character, as well as the interaction between Pan and Lyra. If Pan or Iorek look fake, I'm gonna have to throw a fit.

NyCityGurl... well, I guess Aslan was OK. But he seemed really distant to me, as a character. Maybe that would fit well to Iorek's personality, but the people making HDM are going to have to really step it up in order to make Pan believable and lovable. As for Neeson as Iorek's voice, I think that would be risking some cognitive dissonance with Narnia - "Huh? Isn't there a lion who talks like that?"

And I've decided I don't care who plays Asriel, as long as he's really good looking.

 

totally agree!

 

In that case, you should be happy about Issacs

 

oh I will be if he is the one chosen - I love his eyes and his acting... I just worry about the cross over - of course it could get more people reading the books...

 

Brilliant and beautiful There might be, but he doesn't lay a big part in Harry Potter, and though it totally messed the books up it's popular.

 

*googles Jason Isaacs*

*mentally dresses him up in an old school fur trimmed parka*

OK, yes, I can see it...

varza, I'm also concerned about the whole movie prospect. I just hope they don't water down the dark elements of the story and turn it into a kid's movie. But I read that Tom Stoppard is supposedly working on the script, so maybe there's hope!

 

I agree with you - I read that Pullman is very happy with the director and the screenwriter and thinks they will pull it off correctly. I always worry abotu film adaptations - very few seem to get it "right" in the end...

 

I really, really want this to be an amazing film, but I have a horrible suspicion that it will not be good. Especially if the film makers give in to pressure regarding the novels' supposed anti-Christian message and remove or change the figure of The Authority. I'll definately be seeing it regardless, but I fully expect to come out of the cinema absolutely incandescent with rage.

As for casting, I could see either Liam Neeson or Sean Bean as Asriel. I like Jason Isaacs, but I'd just be seeing Lucius Malfoy in a fur coat. And to whoever suggested Ian McDiarmid as Lord Boreal - I can get behind that

I can't make my mind up over Mrs Coulter, though. I know Pullman wrote her with Nicole Kidman in mind, but I would like to see a British actress (who is not Keira Knightly) in the role. However, the only one I think of is Kate Winslet. Actually, yeah... I reckon she could look sinisterly sweet if she wanted to.

 

that would be a good role for her - very different then what she normally does... yes, I would love to see that!

 

They're not going to remove the anti-christian feelings in the film - just changing a couple names. Pullman has said that the only reason that he's letting this go forwards is because it's not being changed too much.

Also, in breaking news, the original director, Chris Weitz, is back!
The Golden Compass Gets New Director
Source: The Hollywood Reporter May 8, 2006


Chris Weitz, who originally wrote the screenplay for the first installment of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, The Golden Compass, has returned to the project to direct after stepping down last year.

Director Anand Tucker, who had taken over for Weitz, recently left due to creative differences, but New Line Cinemas still hopes it will be ready for release on November 16, 2007.

Having previously co-directed About a Boy and American Pie with his brother Paul, Weitz told The Hollywood Reporter: "Though I'm disappointed that New Line and Anand didn't end up seeing eye to eye, when I was told the job of directing 'Golden Compass' was open, there was just no way that I could pass it up."

~Comingsoon.net

 

Excellent So they're going to make 3 movies?

 

damn I just did some research on this - I don't know if this is good or bad. He is not going to get rid of the religious themes just hoping to change them so that the true fans will still understand...

I'm so confused and when I posted earlier I was thinking it was the other way around...

 

They're not going to remove the anti-christian feelings in the film - just changing a couple names. Pullman has said that the only reason that he's letting this go forwards is because it's not being changed too much.

Excellent. I'd heard some real horror stories about supposed changes

 

Ugh. I always hated the Golden Compass re-release. It made the whole feel of the story less dark, especially with the new covers they commissioned.

I'd prefer them to go with the original "Northern Lights" title of the book, it would be a symbolic way of affirming the dark and moody feel of the original book, set on the soulless backdrop of svalabard!

Either way, I echo the sentiments concerning plot changes. What use making a silver screen tribute to this great book if its soured with unthinking kowtowing to silly christian lobby groups afraid it'll hurt their image? If people who make Dan Brown movies can have a spine, so should genuine filmmakers with genuine plot and material in their hands.

 

So..... basically someone needs to hit Howard in the head with the books?! Sweet, I'm down for it. Cause in truth only someone with that much power behind him can sit there and say: 'I don't give a flying **** what you think. I will make it the way I wanna make it. I don't give a **** what the church thinks.'

Course then - I can't imagine Richie Cunnigham speaking like that...

Prodigal - did you just not like the name change? Or was there another huge change in the books other then that and maybe some of the language. Just curious, cause I'm a stupid American and have no clue what the others are like. I know HP is pretty different in just the wording but the story is the same.

 

I really hate fundamentalists who do that sort of thing. it's a book/movie, for goodness' sakes!! If it has anti-religious themes, so what? It's just a story.

 

exactly!

Now you have all the anti-HPers going aroudn praising the lord for the book and coming out with books on how to explain to your children how HP is really a religious novel... like LOTR and Star Wars and when will the Dark Materials one come out?

 

They don't like it because they feel that it's an attack on religion as a whole, and any organization can't really sustain attacks like that for long. Seems very small, but look what the Da Vinci Code has done.

 

But the thing is... if a persons faith is true it shouldn't be wavered by a book

No book should be able to destroy a religion in any way... don't read it but not everything is an attack on religion and that is the way everything is turned into. I never thought HP was anti-christian and would NEVER of thought that if people weren't preaching it all over the place. BTW, I don't think it is... nor do I think His Dark Materials is - I think its against the abuse of power and religion has the most power to control people in the world.

If a religion can be taken down by a fictional book then there were problems there to begin with... and while they would love to point to an outside source... no building can fall from a push unless the foundation is weak...

Why do you think so many previously nait-HP preachers are suddenly embacing the books?

 

I agree with all of the above

 

Yup, I agree with the above too. Filmmakers should either grow enough of a spine to do stories like HDM or The Da Vinci Code (though I'm not personally overly attached to the last of the two) the right way, or they should leave it alone! The anti-religious tone is part of the story and shouldn't get cut - it's essential to the philosophy and atmosphere of the whole saga.

Besides, here's one thing I don't get: There are novels like Left Behind, which basically imply that I, a non-religious person who lives in Europe and supports institutions like the international courts or the UN, are decadent hellbound Antichrist-lovers. Yes, these books are THERE. But just because they exist, I don't feel the need to freak out and act like their writers and readers are attacking me personally or trying to undermine my values. Why do people have to act all threatened not even by *actual* opposing opinions, but by fantastical dramatizations of other opinions? What gives?

 

thats a question I ask myself on a daily basis...