There are a couple of articles on the Guardian website about the future of the His Dark Materials film franchise. It seems they’re at least on hold, if not cancelled altogether.
Which is a shame. I’ve read the books and quite enjoyed them, and I enjoyed the first film (The Golden Compass, from the book Northern Lights).
It’s interesting the blame has been laid (by Sam Elliot at least) at the foot of the catholic church. Personally, I was under the impression it was purely a financial decision. It didn’t make enough money (see below). Now, the protesting at the movie’s release may have had an impact, despite the efforts to tone down the anti-religious moments and even Philip Pullman (the author) tried to deny they were anti-Christian at release.
This is the same Pullman who was attacking the Narnia films (he’s been outspoken about it before). He has always said the films were never about trying to convert kids to atheism though. IT does reek a little of a PR person having a word with him to try not to damage the box office.
Having said that, the Harry Potter films were attacked too, and it didn’t seem to harm their box office. As were the likes of The Da Vinci Code and Twilight.
According to Box Office Mojo, The Golden Compass cost $180m to make, and only grossed $70m in the US, with a total of $372m worldwide. Compare that to the first Chronicles of Narnia film, which also cost $180m, but grossed $292m in the US and $745m worldwide (the second movie faired worse). The first Harry Potter cost $125m and grossed $317m in the US and $974m worldwide (even the worst performing stuffed The Golden Compass).
Part of that reason is because the books are simply less filmic, they have subjects which are much more difficult to convey on screen in an easy 90-120 minute form.
As one of the Guardian articles puts it:
So maybe, just maybe, The Golden Compass wasn’t given any sequels because it didn’t deserve any. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of 42% – ranking it alongside such masterpieces as Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle – with reviewers calling it "bland", "patchy" and "a crushing disappointment". It looks as if people were too busy despairing at the film’s long, impenetrable voiceovers about dust to notice that it was apparently waging a war on Christmas.
No comments yet.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
