The Golden Compass | Brand-new Scene added to The Golden Compass | His Dark Materials

Brand-new Scene added to The Golden Compass

Posted by on May 12, 2007 at 6:26 am

New Line have let us know that a brand-new original scene - one not appearing in the book - has been added to the movie of The Golden Compass. The film company have said that they “don’t want to spoil the surprise” for fans, but reveal that the scene was inserted in the movie with the approval of Philip Pullman himself. It’s also been clarified that this scene was the focus of the recent additional photography that took place in Switzerland.

Spidabait says:

*~*~Yay! First Comment *~*~

The directors of fantasy movies (especially book adaptations) seem to do this - they add random stuff that wasn’t in the book. I saw that waterfall scene in Narnia and I thought, “hmmm, that wasn’t in the book….” and it kinda looked stupid.

I hope they don’t make it like Eragon, and bring in some ridiculous plot that doesn’t make sense. Otherwise, I’m looking forward to this new scene, whatever it may be.

Perhaps it will reveal something to us that will help solve the mystery of the whole trilogy?

Guesses, anybody?

May 12, 2007 6:37 am | link

Aimee says:

I think this is great. Now I am more than ever excited for the movie. It would be boring if it followed the book completely. I’m glad that in translating it to the screen, some of the story was translated as well. Since the his dark materials series has so much in so little space (1300 pages) it seems like a great idea to add more to the movie.

May 12, 2007 7:34 am | link

Domenico says:

Pullman himself is ok with this? Then it will be ok for me. Actually, even if they had added a completely ridicolous and pointless scene, if the Author himself had approved it, it would be ok for me…

PS: please forgive any mistake in this message, I’m Italian…

May 12, 2007 3:53 pm | link

chris says:

hmmm.. i think this is fine, and pullman does care, if not then he wouldn’t have been consulted in the first place about casting. also he cared a lot when it was done on stage frequently attending workshops and rehearsals, and peformances, and made some brillaint suggestions thjat helped solved some tricky bits to addpat. so i am sure he would have said if he didn’t like it.

Also they said its not from this book… could it be from the next one? could it possibly be some setting up for will? or maybe wills father? perhaps the story of wills dad and the witches? i imagin it wont be a huge scene but if its a last minute thing i think its in order to set up the next film.

anyway thats just my thought!

May 12, 2007 5:20 pm | link

Yokata says:

I wonder whether this scene will foreshadow in any way the events the transpire in the Subtle Knife. For some reason, though, this scene sounds entirely original! I wish that New Line would have clarified more. Oh, well - I suppose we’ll have to wait until we see the movie to find out what it is. Hopefully it’s not just some mindless scene inserted for amusement and one that actually expands the intellectual brilliance of the story.

May 12, 2007 5:29 pm | link

Vampt Vo says:

This is good news. Not only has Pullman approved it, but it shows that Weitz and New Line are willing to take risks and play with the story a bit. As I’ve said on the forums, hopefully they will give us a “Lord of the Rings”, in which the story was changed but held the same message while being a great movie on its own, rather than a “Harry Potter”, in which it was a bad movie that follows the book so strictly that only book fans will enjoy it.

I’m really interested in seeing this scene, and I believe it will be a serious scene (as in not a dumb kiddy scene) that is not really significant in Pullman’s grand scheme of things. e.g. no background stories of characters or forshadowing of TSK. I’m thinking something that will help to get across some of the abstract ideas of daemons and such to mainstream audiences.

May 12, 2007 8:25 pm | link

Annabel says:

I agree with baduha. I rekon that we’re going to have the magesterium poisoning the wine, like it suggests in one of those photos, and like a cover story of why they do it

I KNOW!!! Maybe it will show will’s dad? Like when asriel mentions the “certain phenominon” that grumen was supposed to have been investigating, and it gives a background to the idea of other world type things too.

May 12, 2007 8:55 pm | link

JV says:

I really hope it’s not anything from the future books or relating to it. I don’t think it is because one, it says a scene “not appearing in the books” and also Weitz has stated that he wanted to open with the Lyra-story first and keep Will’s story out of the first movie as it would damage the integrity of Lyra’s story. I guess I won’t know how I feel about it until I see it.

I don’t know what the scene could be. How Mrs. Coulter gets up the mountain? The last battle Iorek runs back to? Asriel walking around in the new world, or maybe even Lyra?

May 13, 2007 1:23 am | link

WillTheSecond says:

Iâ€™m really interested in seeing this scene, and I believe it will be a serious scene (as in not a dumb kiddy scene) that is not really significant in Pullmanâ€™s grand scheme of things. e.g. no background stories of characters or forshadowing of TSK. Iâ€™m thinking something that will help to get across some of the abstract ideas of daemons and such to mainstream audiences.”

While this is an interesting idea, I doubt it, simply because it is not necessary: within the first chapter of the novel you understand what a daemon is, in the film it won’t long either once you see that every person is accompanied by talking animals, and it’s only until the The Amber Spyglass that you actually get a proper metaphysical understanding of what the daemons are meant to be anyway.

You can make a mainstream film without spoon feeding the audience information, even children, in fact, especially children, who should be taught to think through all entertainment and art platforms, not just literature, as a film studies student and student filmmaker, I feels things stronger.

Also, what Pullman approves and doesn’t approve is pointless, he is an author and an expert in that artistic field, he is not a filmmaker, and doesn’t know the craft of cinema and so probably can’t judge what would make a decent additional scene. The reason why this addition worries me is that I don’t think there is anything in Northern Lights narratively to merit an extra scene, so this may turn out to be a special effects bonanza sequence of some kind.

May 13, 2007 2:43 am | link

scene_detective says:

Why did they go to Switzerland? For snow? Possible but unlikely ($, as DaemonToronto pointed out). I think they went to Geneva because they need the Magisterium. Who is gonna appear? Fra Pavel, Lord Asriel, Ms. Coulter, Father MacPhail? Maybe it is some background on Magisterium politics to give the enemy a higher profile.

May 13, 2007 7:57 pm | link

Schrodinger's Cat says:

Let me get this straight. There’s a scene, but you don’t know what happens in it, who’s in it… in fact you know NOTHING about it at all. Yet you’re all whining and complaining and throwing tantrums and acting childishly over NOTHING. Geez, everyone take a chill pill and grow up. Seriously. Never in my life have I seen such childishness until I came to this website. Philip Pullman would be ashamed to read some of your posts, it truly is deplorable.

May 14, 2007 8:16 pm | link

drama queen says:

the cat is right…. why are u all moaning like little children when u know nothing about it…..
when we will hear any news of it then it will be judgment day……..
or we will not hear news of it and we will have to wait for the film……….
if u moan about that u won’t be able to tell which one then u r pretty stupid because most of us has read the books and if u didn’t then u will know from the fan art…………

May 14, 2007 8:24 pm | link

Diolmhain says:

why are we all moaning like little children?
Well let me think, please tell me of a book to film transition that hasn’t lost it’s soul. And why have they lost their souls? Because hollywood has a knack for tip-exing over whatever might drive away the hyperactive movie goer who has no intention of reading the books, that simply want something to fill up some space. And then adding in yet another building block for the vast vaccume of thought that is, sadly, what a trip to the cinema, is becoming.

Well that’s my opinion anyway

May 14, 2007 8:59 pm | link

Chris says:

A similar scene (i.e. one not in the books) was added to the first Harry Potter movie with JK’s consent (a flashback scene showing his mothers death) and that didn’t detract from the fabric/feel of the book or film…take a chill pill everyone…this could turn out to be everyone’s favourite scene! Besides, the ‘Book of Dust’ which i’m sure we are all eagerly anticipating, comprises of a number of stories which bolster the original books (Iorek’s first meeting with Lee Scoresby, etc.) who’s to say that it isn’t a scene from the new book?

May 14, 2007 9:44 pm | link

aklebury says:

“please tell me of a book to film transition that hasnâ€™t lost itâ€™s soul.”

um, one flew over the cuckoo’s nest, to kill a mockingbird

there’s many many good film adaptions of books
sadly there are also a lot of awful ones as well (cough* Harry Potter)

May 15, 2007 4:37 am | link

Par says:

Making all these judgments about a movie people have NEVER seen is really dumb. I think everyone’s just getting overexcited

Most books really make for boring-ass bloated movies if the filmmakers followed them word for word. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with making film interpretations/adaptations of novels that are not literal translations, but then again I don’t get all fundamentalist about books I love.

May 17, 2007 12:18 am | link

chris says:

you know - sometimes they take out tiny crews to film establishments shots and tiny scenes. they are just pick up bits, and are common in films… i would laugh if after all this debating the new scene is simply a double of lyra running through a doorway or something! and lasts about 2-3 seconds.

i do think that the fact the film makers are confering with phillip pullman when making descitions on scenes suggests that they are taking the story seriously. and thats a good thing, because these films could go down the ‘weak storied special effects only’ route if not handled properly.

He may not be a film student or a ‘film expert’, as has been suggested in this thread, but at the same time he has a love of the arts, has been invovled with play writing and stage productions, and i imagine has seen a fair share of movies. you dont have to be a film student to understand how films are made and what makes a good and bad scene. He is a writer and surely that more than qualifys him to give intelligent and informed views of a scene that relates to his story.

May 20, 2007 4:09 pm | link

Vaka says:

According to http://www.hisdarkmaterials.org, the new scene shows the details of how Lord Asriel is captured by the armoured bears. This makes sense; it’s an important part of the story that was never shown in the book. But it seems clear that there will be plenty of additional scenes that are still faithful to the story.

May 21, 2007 8:43 am | link

Brand-new Scene added to The Golden Compass

Posted by on May 12, 2007 at 6:26 am

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