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The first official picture of Dakota Blue Richards, who plays Lyra in The Golden Compass, has today been released by the New Line. She is seen in the photo with her on screen mother Mrs Coulter (Nicole Kidman). Feel free to discuss this more in the [link=http://www.bridgetothestars.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=203504]relevant thread[/link] on the message boards.



Read more on the CBBC site.

Ben Walker's agent has kindly provided us with a more up-to-date photograph of Ben, who is playing Roger in The Golden Compass movie. She also mentioned he's already been involved in filming for the past few weeks. Click the image for a larger shot.

This month has seen the publication of [i]The Elements of His Dark Materials: A Guide to Philip Pullman’s Trilogy[/i] by American Laurie Frost. Philip Pullman featured it in his October [link=http://www.philip-pullman.com/pages/content/index.asp?PageID=128]newsletter[/link], saying “It will sit on the shelf next to my favourite dictionary, which is Chambers', and I look forward to seeing it gradually fall apart as I consult it again and again. Then, of course, I shall buy another copy.” Read more here. We'll have much more on Elements soon. (more…)

The rights for original toys based on The Golden Compass movie has been given by New Line and Scholastic to Master Replicas and Cards Inc. The companies will create a full range of officially licensed The Golden Compass toys, “designed to embody the strong themes of the story.” The “innovative” product line will “focus on playability, fantasy, role-play and collectibility.” The product line will be unveiled at the upcoming Hong Kong Toy Fair in January. Read press release. (more…)

Joel Rickett writing in The Guardian today reports on news of Scholastic's plans for further editions of His Dark Materials. “After the book sales bonanza of the Lord of the Rings and Narnia films, a global publishing programme is essential for any self-respecting fantasy blockbuster: box sets, official movie companions, storybooks, colouring books, and so on. So Scholastic is delighted to have signed a tie-in deal for The Golden Compass, the forthcoming film based on Philip Pullman's Northern Lights.” Read more.

Claire submitted her work to our fanart section, but her work is so lovely (and numerous!) that a direct link here seems more appropriate, in order that everyone might see it. She says, “a while ago I decided to create an altered book from a copy of His Dark Materials – meaning, I rip out a load of pages and cover the rest with any kind of collage/writing/painting/photos that I think represent that part of the story.” The description probably doesn't do it justice, so follow the links to Claire's livejournal and check it out:

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VFXWorld have a lengthy article on the UK computer graphics industry. The animation supervisor for Framestore CFC, who are providing character work for The Golden Compass – including all the polar bears, among them Iorek – said of the movie, “We discussed internally what we’d really like to work on before being awarded the project and agreed it was the bears because we saw them as the most challenging.” The characters will be “hyper realistic” and feature dialog sequences. “We have to create totally convincing interactions,” he added. Read more.

We can also clarify the involvement various companies have in His Dark Materials. Framestore-CFC have all of the bears. Cinesite have the secondary daemons, whilst Rythm and Hues have the main daemons. Cinesite are also doing a fair bit of set extension and miniature work.

Philip Pullman posted his October message today, saying: “The film of The Golden Compass is progressing very well. I spent yesterday at the studios in Shepperton, meeting some of the cast, including Sam Elliott, who's playing Lee Scoresby. Sam's resemblance to the Lee in my mind is just astonishing. His Lee has all the presence, the experience, the battered integrity, the humour, and the courage of the aeronaut who first walked into my story thirteen years ago. I can`t imagine a better cast, and the sets and costumes are just astounding.” Read more.

Peer Productions, an English based youth theatre, are to perform Nicholas Wright's adaptation of His Dark Materials in 2007. They are currently looking for actors and actresses from 8 to 23 years old. You can register for an audition by going to PeerProductions.co.uk or by calling Nina on 07815 148413. Previous youth stagings of HDM have come from Stagecoach and Playbox.

Variety have an interview with Deborah Forte, the New Line producer who optioned the film rights to His Dark Materials way back in 1996. “It's been a long road getting here,” Forte admits. “There were lots of opportunities to do 'His Dark Materials' before this, but it would not have been the film I wanted to make. It would have been smaller, and would not have had the same level of talent.” Variety say, “Pullman himself has remained closely involved with the project, visiting the set and helping out with script advice.” Read more.