The Golden Compass - Slight Spoliers

[Geekyfanboy]

Yahoo just posted the teaser trailer for this movie... If you don't know what it is it's  based on author Philip Pullman's bestselling and award-winning novel, The Golden Compass tells the first story in Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy. Nicole Kidman, Sam Elliott, Eva Green, Dakota Blue Richards and Daniel Craig star.

The fantasy adventure opens in theaters on December 7 2007.

Has anyone read the books? They are suppose to be very good.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/thegoldencompass.html

WOW....The movie looks great!!!!!!!!

[Darth Gaos]

That movie does look cool....I like Sam Elliot and Daniel Craig and I have always had a thing for Nicole Kidman (I even forgive her for being married to Looney Cruise ;) )

This looks like the first fantasy movie I actually WANT to see since LOTR and Chronicles of Narnia.

[jedijeff]

Wow, the visuals on this looks excellent. Dont know much about the Golden Compass, but know I want to see.

[Geekyfanboy]

Here is some more info from Wiki

His Dark Materials is a trilogy of novels by the fantasy fiction author Philip Pullman, comprising Northern Lights (released as The Golden Compass in North America and published in 1995), The Subtle Knife (published in 1997) and The Amber Spyglass (published in 2000). The trilogy has also been published as a single-volume omnibus in the United Kingdom and North America, titled simply "His Dark Materials".

The trilogy follows the coming of age of two main characters, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they wander through a multiverse of parallel universes and a backdrop of epic events. The story begins in Northern Lights with fantasy elements such as witches and armoured bears. As the trilogy progresses, it acquires allegorical layers of meaning, introducing a broad range of ideas from fields such as physics (especially quantum physics), philosophy (especially metaphysics, philosophy of religion and, arguably, a degree of hylopathism), and theology (especially biblical symbolism).

[Fanboy]

Looks cool dude.  Might try a book first.

[PepperDude]

Looks and sounds interesting.

[Rico]

This movie is going to be a lot of fun.  I'm reading the book now and about a third of the way into it.  New trailer is out too.

http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/

http://www.apple.com/trailers/newline/thegoldencompass/large.html

[Geekyfanboy]

I actually think this is a good idea.. the ending of the book is very depressing IMO.

Weitz Explains Compass Changes

Chris Weitz, writer-director of the upcoming fantasy film The Golden Compass, explained that he changed the ending of the movie to avoid confusion among viewers not familiar with the Philip Pullman books on which the movie is based.

Weitz at first shot an ending that matched that of the Pullman book Northern Lights, but later dropped it in favor of a cliffhanger and will save the footage he shot for the opening scenes of a possible sequel.

"We shot the last three chapters of the book, which are really quite ambiguous in the ending and quite harsh and dark," Weitz said in an interview in London this week. "It became clear that audiences who were not familiar with the books were confused and appalled by the end of the movie, and in order to protect the character of these last few chapters, I thought, 'Well, it can work at the beginning of a second movie.'"

The Golden Compass, based on the first book of Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, unfolds in a universe where humans are accompanied by loyal animal companions called daemons, polar bears are great warriors, and the powerful Magisterium rules the world.

That world is about to change forever, in large part because a 12-year-old girl named Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) has come into possession of the last remaining Golden Compass, or alethiometer, which allows her to see the truth in any situation.

Pullman's book ends on a decisive note that sets the stage for the next adventure, The Subtle Knife. Weitz ultimately chose to end The Golden Compass with a cliffhanger as "a way of protecting the spirit of the end of the book," he said. "And anyway, to me, and I think Pullman would say, he's telling one story, Lyra's story, throughout the whole thing, and it didn't particularly matter where one movie ended or where the other one goes. It's disappointing the fans, because they want to see as much as possible. They think of it in terms of one movie per book, but having spoken to Philip about it, I don't think he's terribly concerned." The Golden Compass opens Dec. 7. —Ian Spelling