BBC Oxford meets Pullman in the Retiring Room

Posted by jessia on December 12, 2007 at 10:33 pm

BBC Oxford’s Martin Eastaugh has shared with us his extended interview with Philip Pullman, conducted in the senior common room of Exeter College, our world’s equivalent to Jordan College’s Retiring Room. “The interview contains some rather nice stuff about the story behind the books, the boycott of the film and some insights into the Oxford locations in the story. There’s also a nice anecdote about when he met JRR Tolkein.” Pullman also shares some possible content for the Book of Dust.

Eastaugh also catches up with Catholic League president Bill Donahue who describes Pullman as a “master storyteller”. Click here to access both interviews. He also links to his exploration of Oxford-His Dark Materials connections and some response from the first to see the movie in Oxford.

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‘New York’ blames New Line

Posted by jessia on December 11, 2007 at 9:31 am

Dan Kois and Lane Brown of the New York Magazine’s Vulture appear to have gotten their hands on a copy of Tom Stoppard’s original draft for The Golden Compass. Upon comparing Stoppard’s screenplay with Chris Weitz’s, they agreed with Philip Pullman’s statement regarding the original draft, that it concerned too much “the discussions between old men with beards.” Weitz’s original script on the other hand originally included more scenes of Jordan College, Mrs. Coulter’s cocktail party, the Gyptians, and most importantly, the last three chapters of the story. Read more.

The Vulture also provides a number of links of critical faith-based reviews for the film. Click here to see it.

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Box Office Numbers

Posted by Will on December 10, 2007 at 5:58 am

The Golden Compass’ massive budget of around $250 million means that it needs to succeed, and succeed big, at the box office. Unfortunately for New Line - and for fans hoping for sequels - the movie appears to be floundering somewhat at the American box-office. Whilst it has taken the number one spot, over this weekend, the film took in just $27 million. Last week, New Line said they were hoping for between $30 and $40 million.

For reference, Slashfilm give this comparison with other fantasy films’ opening weekends:

      Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire - $102.6M
      & the Prisoner of Azkaban - $93.6M
      & the Sorcerer’s Stone - $90.2M
      & the Chamber of Secrets - $88.3M
      The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - $72.6M
      The Chronicles of Narnia - $65.5M
      The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - $62M
      The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring - $47.2M
      The Golden Compass - $27M (estimate)
      Eragon - $23.2M
      Bridge to Terabithia - $22.5M
      Stardust - $9.1M opening

Whilst Harry Potter is in a league of its own, that The Golden Compass came in nowhere near even the first Lord of the Rings and made just $4 million more than Eragon is worrying. Indeed, Slashfilm call the numbers a “disaster”. Cinematical say it has “crashed and burned”, writing that “with muted buzz at best, expect Golden’s numbers to plummet next weekend, especially with a new crowd of pre-Christmas contenders packing in, and total domestic box office to top out at around $80 million. Ouch.”

Industry blogger Nikki Finke calls it a “bomb” and a “flop”, citing also low per screen averages. Paul Dergarabedian at Media By Numbers, a tracking firm, says “It’s below expectations, but it’s not an out-and-out debacle.” News agency Reuters’ headline on the matter is “Golden Compass disappoints at Box Office”.

“It’s a little bit disappointing,” said Rolf Mittweg, president and chief operating officer of New Line’s worldwide distribution and marketing operations. The Guardian reports Mittweg as saying exit polls were favourable and that he was hoping word of mouth would help the film in coming weeks, especially with school holidays starting. “It’s all about longevity,” Mittweg said.

The film’s producer, Deborah Forte, was asked the the premiere’s press conference what level of gross The Golden Compass needed to take at the box office in order for the sequels to get the go-ahead. She was not best-pleased at the question and answered that New Line would be taking into consideration worldwide takings. There, the film may be faring better.

Variety say it has “taken Europe by storm”. In the UK, the film took $3.1 million in the first two days, beating Narnia’s record. With little competition, French, Spanish and German takings are also very good. This does not translate into money for New Line however - the studio sold off foreign distribution rights before the film was released. Mittner says proceeds from those sales have covered about 60 percent of the film’s budget. Taking into account outside investors and tax breaks, he said New Line was covered for about 70 to 80 percent of the budget, and the film would be profitable for the studio.

These will be a worrying few days for New Line and Chris Weitz regardless.

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Child Stars In The Golden Compass

Posted by Ian on December 9, 2007 at 3:36 pm

Today’s The Independent on Sunday newspaper has a lengthy feature about the modern child star in film and television. It makes reference to the pressures on Dakota Blue Richards, who is rumoured to be earning 100,000 GBP for The Golden Compass movie. However, much of the article’s focus is on actor Ben Walker, who plays Roger in the film. Speaking to journalist Hermione Eyre (herself a former child star) he discusses amongst other things how to cry on set. There is also featured a summary of the child acting career of Freddie Highmore, voice actor for Pantalaimon. You can read the article in full here.

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In-depth Interview with Chris Weitz

Posted by Ian on December 9, 2007 at 2:35 am

Canadian website Movies Online feature a recent interview with The Golden Compass director Chris Weitz from the movie’s Los Angeles press day. It’s one of the more in depth interviews done with Weitz recently. Items discussed are the much talked-about potential director’s cut which we may see on the DVD release.

Weitz says he believes there is potential for a revised 2 hours 30 minutes running time, even without adding on the missing ending. The director also discusses the importance of star names being cast for minor roles, the sequels and his future career. It’s a really interesting piece - you can read the interview in full here.

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Last Round of Chris Weitz Fan Questions Answered

Posted by Ian on December 9, 2007 at 2:28 am

The MTV movie blog today features the final round of answers from Golden Compass movie director Christ Weitz to questions posed by fans. Amongst other things, discussed are the issues that could be raised by the age of Pantalaimon’s voice actor Freddie Highmore, and what Weitz would ask an alethiometer if he had the opportunity. Read it in full here.

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Don’t miss Pullman at your nearest Picturehouse

Posted by Ian on December 8, 2007 at 6:11 pm

As we reported some weeks ago, Philip Pullman will appear at the Phoenix Cinema in Oxford tomorrow for a one hour discussion about the movie. This is sold out. However, you can still get hold of tickets to see him speaking in Oxford via satellite in a number of other Picturehouse cinemas around the country. You can see Pullman speaking in the following towns and cities around the UK:

London, Aberdeen, Bath, Brighton, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Exeter, Henley-on-Thames, Liverpool, Norwich, Southampton, Stratford-upon-Avon and York.

The conversation begins at 4.40pm and tickets cost around 7 GBP. Read here for further details.

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Philip Pullman interviewed by Lizo Mzimba

Posted by Ian on December 8, 2007 at 5:35 pm

BBC’s Lizo Mzimba recently recorded an interview with Philip Pullman, discussing with him his thoughts on the adaptation of The Golden Compass, but also his thoughts for the future, particularly the casting of an actor to play Will Parry in an eventual Subtle Knife movie. Pullman states that New Line will make a decision over more movies ‘very soon’. Watch it here, or just below.

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Lyra Print Give-Away

Posted by Ian on December 8, 2007 at 4:05 am

Update: This contest has now closed. Thank you to all who entered. Update: This contest will remain open until December 31st - so if you haven’t yet entered for your chance to win a Lyra print, make sure you do so! Update: This is now extended worldwide. If you haven’t already entered for the chance to win your own Lyra print, make sure you do! Update: We have now extended this give-away to cover Europe too. Anybody may enter for a chance to win their very own beautiful Lyra print! Author of Discovering The Golden Compass: A Guide To Philip Pullman’s Dark Materials George Beahm has very kindly offered BridgetotheStars a number of signed prints of Lyra by illustrator Tim Kirk to give away to fans worldwide. You can see below a sample of the exquisite artwork. To get your hands on one of these brilliant pieces of artwork for free, simply send your name and full postal address to this address: podcast@bridgetothestars.net . We’ll be picking names out of our magical hat over the next few weeks to receive the free print. The “Lyra in Oxford” print is by artist Tim Kirk and was originally published in George Beahm’s recently released book, DISCOVERING THE GOLDEN COMPASS, which is now available in all good bookshops.

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The Extended Chronicles of Atheism

Posted by Ian on December 8, 2007 at 4:02 am

We reported a few days ago about an interview with Philip Pullman in Christianity Today. The journalist who wrote the piece, Peter T. Chattaway, interviewed Pullman by way of a series of emails in September, and while his material had to be significantly shortened for publication, he has posted his interview in full on his blog, which can be read here.

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