The Golden Compass has no sequel in sight
Posted on February 21, 2008
Filed Under Actresses, News
Many of you, probably most of you, seen the adaptation of Philip Pullman’s ”The Golden Compass“. And here is problem. The movie adaptation of the first part of the trilogy is… ok. But the whole trilogy should be experienced before passing judgement. And as always – the books are better. Some critics even compare Pullmans’s trilogy to Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” I wouldn’t quite go that far but it’s really fantastic reading and if you read Philip Pullman’s trilogy before you watch the movie I’m guessing you get much more out of it.
Most of us had already read the “The Lord of the Rings” when Jackson’s adaptation hit the screen. We already loved the story, the characters and the fantastic world Tolkien had created. This made us a bit more demanding as an audience but also ensured that we would go and see it and we would smile when we recognized the heroes from Tolkien’s books.
I would go as fare as saying it’s unfair to Philip Pullman to compare him with Tolkien. For many reasons but mostly because of one thing that Pullman just can’t help. Time passed. It has been more then 50 years since “The Lord of the Rings” was published. 70 years since “The Hobbit” came out… To be fair, Tolkien’s epic trilogy is amazing, beyond words. Nevertheless, it been 70 years since the readers first was introduced to the magical world Tolkien created. That’s many years to build up a loyal community of fans.
Pullman’s “The Golden Compass”, the first part of the trilogy, was published 1995. See where I’m going with this?
Anyway, to the news: Dark Horizons reports that whilst the domestic failure of “The Golden Compass” seemed to rule out the sequel “The Subtle Knife” happening, the healthy international returns haven’t made that such a sure thing.
Now, actress Dakota Blue Richards has revealed that so far no-one has informed her of any plans to adapt the remaining two books in Philip Pullman’s trilogy.
The 13-year-old, who played the lead role of Lyra Belacqua, tells Teletext: “I think they are going to see how it does when it opens in Japan. It’s set in Oxford so it is going to be better received here.”
As I was trying to say in my rambling in the beginning of the post, “they” should have given the trilogy some more time to find it’s readers before they decided to make a movie adaptation.
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10 Responses to “The Golden Compass has no sequel in sight”
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If only i had suspected this was such a fantastic story, i would have seen this film many times in the theater…
I would hate to see such an incredible story go unfinished because most of us are weary of paying box office premiums for bad movies.
It took me this long to pick the film up and I would trade in all five harry potter films, for the next two films in this trilogy. The harry potter films, which i thought were decent at the time, do not compare to the emotional depth i feel when watching this film…
If nothing else, it has opened my eyes to another great series of books I will soon be reading.
Great article.
I bought the DVD and loved it – EXCEPT – the music is sometimes too loud – you can’t hear the actors speak.
I do so hope they will make the rest of the story! (and not let the sound overpower the voices).
I found this series of books to be very well written and very creative. I hope the sequels are made because I think that by and large the theme is not “anti-god” it is “anti-abuse of power.” I also found it interesting that it was a re-fighting in the present of “the war in heaven” that occured long before. It could be offensive to some, but if you realize that it is fiction (and creative fiction at that) then I think it is an excellent series that deals with loyalty, friendship, moral dillemas etc.
One more comment. This movie and the books have been called “pro-atheist.” I just don’t see it. It IS fiction, but it DOES have divine beings, semi-divine angel-like beings etc. It clearly has a “creator” for the universe…or universes I should say because of the parallel universes that the charcters travel through via portals to other planets etc. What it does is make the creator more mortal-like, and although that does not agree with my Christian beliefs…IT IS A WORK OF FICTION!!! …and I enjoyed the creative writing anyway!
I loved Dakota and Nicole, and the visual effects were top notch. The Golden Compass is just the start. The trilogy doesn’t start rollin’ until the Subtle Knife. I can’t stand it that I haven’t heard about the sequels yet. It doesn’t make sense to leave such a great story unfinished.
well, i was saddened to hear that they may not make a sequel. why not? who cares what protesters say about a fictional story?! i mean, really. is it too close for comfort for christians? don’t they know that this IS fiction? fiction aside: don’t they realize there ARE other schools of thought that people have the right to consider? don’t they know that this judgmental attitude and ridicule is exactly what forms people’s negative feelings toward them?
of course, there’s also the fact that the first movie was wonderful and totally leaves you hanging–it would be ridiculous to just leave it at that. i haven’t read the books, but i’m loving the movie. i want to see what else happens!!!!
*on a side note: i think people [collectively] shouldn’t grant so much dominance to such suppression.
The Golden Compass IS an outstanding fictional movie. But I have to take exception to the paranoid rantings of the people who believe “it’s the Christians” who are stopping the continued stories from being produced. Come on now people, ranting like this does nothing to further enhance the uncontested beauty and creativity of this movie. OMG! The Christians are coming! Get real. The sequels to this beautiful but relatively less publicized/advertised movie has probably been put on hold until underwriters and producers get the financing necessary to continue the sequels.
I love the first movie & I read the books. I would to see a sequel. I know the sequel would be better than the first one.
I’ve read the wonderful books. The Golden Compas was a brilliant film…closer to the books than Harry Potter flims were to the books… more like the Lord of the Rings film to the books. I hope they make the rest of the movies! However, to be true to the books I am not sure they will be able to keep it pg13. Please hold true to the books!!!!
I never read the books but I bought the DVD and absolutely loved it !! It was a wonderful story and the studio did a fantastic job transferring it to film.
Here it is August of 2010 and I am sorely disappointed that New Line has yet to pursue making the next film. If New Line doesn’t wish to make the sequels then they should option the rights to another studio. It’s a shame that we, the ticket paying public, are deprived of these potential films because they didn’t make an exhorbitant profit from the first one.
Maybe we need to start a grass roots movement to convince New Line to make the sequels