"The Golden Compass," the first book in British author Philip Pullman's award-winning young adult trilogy, sets in motion a story that so smartly merges theology with quantum physics and Nietzschean pondering with fairy tale characters that it has inspired scores of scholarly essays, serious academic study, blockbuster book sales, a National Theatre play, a radio show and an international society of die-hard fans.
Now -- Dec. 7, to be exact -- comes New Line Cinema's long-awaited $180-million movie "The Golden Compass," a fantasy-adventure directed by "About a Boy's" Chris Weitz, starring Nicole Kidman as the malevolent beauty Marisa Coulter, Daniel Craig as the mysterious Lord Asriel, Sam Elliott as cowboy adventurer Lee Scoresby and 12-year-old newcomer Dakota Blue Richards as the film's young protagonist, the wily urchin Lyra Belacqua.
It is an epic story set in a parallel universe similar to Oxford, England, populated by flying witches, talking animals and warrior polar bears -- all locked in a battle with the authoritarian governing body the Magisterium over mystical particles known as Dust.
By internal compass
'The Golden Compass,' a $180-million novel-adaptation project, scared Chris Weitz away. He returned, though, to put himself into it.
HOLIDAY SNEAKS
THE DIRECTORS
Last May, New Line released a 10-minute preview that offered a glimpse of the breathtaking scope of the story and the ambitious use of special effects. A half-dozen companies assembled 1,100 special-effects shots for the film. Every character is accompanied by his or her "daemon," an animal manifestation of the soul, which meant the cast spent a lot of time acting opposite "green cushions on a stick," Weitz said. Kidman told the director she drew heavily on her mime training in acting school.
Weitz first became a fan of the series in 2000 while filming "About a Boy." Even before he was hired, the director said he "sheepishly" e-mailed Pullman out of the blue to discuss a film adaptation. But after observing Peter Jackson on the set of "The Lord of the Rings," Weitz got cold feet and quit the production in 2004. He returned after New Line fired his replacement director, Anand Tucker, over those pesky "creative differences." And Pullman and Weitz picked up where they left off, working closely on the adaptation throughout filming.
This month, controversy surfaced on his handling of Pullman's religious themes, with the Catholic League saying a watered-down movie adaptation will "seduce" parents to buy the "pro-atheist" books for their kids.
