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Posted by jessia on April 15, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Kenneth Li from Reuters reports, “About 40 to 50 existing New Line employees will remain at the division renowned for its blockbuster hit franchises, including the “Lord of the Rings” series,” while 40 employees will be rehired for new positions at Warner Bros. Meanwhile, 450 employees will lose their jobs all together, in a move to improve business performance and financial returns, according to chief executive Jeff Bewkes. “It was not immediately clear how much the company would save or what type of charges it would likely take as a result of the cuts.” Read more
Posted by jessia on April 15, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Crew members from the recent film adaptation of The Golden Compass have indicated that many of the movie sets have since been destroyed (including Lee Scorseby’s balloon) and general props sold on to rental houses. Although this is generally the fate of film sets sequel or no sequel, it appears that the likelihood of filming The Subtle Knife is is very low. Thanks to spyfly for the tip.
Posted by Ian on March 20, 2008 at 5:12 am
New Line Cinema, the production company behind The Golden Compass movie, have a new President. Toby Emmerich, previously a New Line production chief, has been named President and COO of the company and will be reporting directly to Alan Horn, President of Warner Bros, it was announced by Horn. Emmerich’s brief will be to reduce costs through extensive use of Warner Bros’ infrastructure. As a result of the restructuring, New Line will continue to retain all creative, development and production teams, while areas such as physical production, legal affairs and publicity will report directly to Emmerich in close conjunction with Warner Bros. There’s as yet no indication what this means for the future of the His Dark Materials film adaptations, but you can read the full story here.
Posted by jessia on March 15, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Adam Dawtrey from Variety reports that the fate of The Subtle Knife is more complicated than it seems: many of the foreign distributors have the first rights for foreign distribution for any possibly sequels for The Golden Compass. For very good reason, considering the film’s superb overseas performance, Warner Bros. would much rather distribute via Warner Int’l. However, it may not be so simple when the distributors for The Golden Compass in Europe, Asia, and Africa also have first grab for The Subtle Knife.
With this predicament, The Golden Compass’ successful overseas performance may not necessarily be the selling point to engage the film franchise for sequels as fans have hoped. Without foreign distribution rights, Warner will not be able to take advantage of profits from overseas screenings. “Warner’s lawyers will doubtless be scouring the fine print of those deals. If the studio does decide that it wants to continue with the franchise — and that’s a big if — it faces a tricky calculation and negotiation over how much of the world it is prepared to give up in order to do so.” Read more. Thanks to skylights for the tip.
Posted by jessia on February 16, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Digital Spy reports that Dakota Blue Richards is unsure of the fate of sequels’ production. ‘The 13-year-old, who played the lead role of Lyra Belacqua, told Teletext: “I think they are going to see how it does when it opens in Japan.”‘ While The Golden Compass did not perform well in the North American box office, it was a hit in European theatres and other overseas markets such as South Korea. Read more.
Posted by Ian on February 12, 2008 at 9:23 pm
According to the Associated Press the estate of writer J.R.R. Tolkien have filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against New Line Cinema, claiming that they have as yet received no money from the movie adaptation of Lord of the Rings. They are seeking $150 million in compensation and the right to cancel New Line’s right to produce any further Tolkien works in movie form. If they were to win their case this would clearly leave an already struggling company on the brink of ruin. This litigation can only throw more doubt on the possibility that there will be sequels to The Golden Compass movie produced. Read the full story here.
Posted by Ian on December 3, 2007 at 9:57 pm
The clothing store GAP is offering the chance to one child in the UK, aged between 7 and 13, to win a day on set in the UK during the shooting of The Subtle Knife movie, including a ‘walk on part’ as an extra, although the part will be non-speaking.
To apply, you need to visit your closest GAP store and pick up an application form (click on thumbnails below to enlarge images of application form), and describe in 50 words or less why you would like to win. The deadline for applications (which must be left in store) is December 22nd. 20 applicants will shortlisted and asked to submit an audition tape during early 2008, after which a winner will be selected. The prize includes standard class return train travel from the winner’s nearest train station and two nights hotel accommodation, for both the winner and their parent or guardian.
GAP does not guarantee that the ‘walk on’ will make the final cut, and have anticipated the possibility of no movie being made with the statement that there will be an alternative prize (a trip to Los Angeles to record a screen test) if the movie does not go into production before March 2009.
  
  
Posted by jessia on November 28, 2007 at 6:47 pm
IESB has posted the transcript for Eva Green’s round table. Upon a question on the production of a sequel, “If this movie works, we’ll be shooting with the year - September 2008.” Read more. BridgetotheStars will have audio and video footage of the round table discussions coming soon. Download the audio for Chris Weitz’s round table here
Meanwhile, The Golden Compass is receiving more positive reviews. The Evening Standard’s Liz Hoggard has given the “definitively” good film four stars. Even the Daily Mail calls it a “feast.” Baz Bamigboye says, “Overall, the film works splendidly. It’s big-screen entertainment at its best.” Melanie McDonagh, for The Times, comments on the publicity generated by Catholic League, describing it as Christmas come early for Weitz. The Telegraph’s Tim Robey warns fans of changes, “it’s just too vague, leaving the whole plot puzzlingly under-motivated,” but nevertheless praises its excitement. Watch this page for more reviews.
Posted by jessia on August 18, 2007 at 12:49 am
The official film blog has posted two items from from the 24 August issue of Entertainment Weekly. The magazine indicates that she and Daniel Craig have both signed on to return for the next two films. Nicole Kidman comments on her role as the Magisterium’s villain, saying in the article, “The Catholic Church is part of my essence. I wouldn’t be able to do this film if I thought it were at all anti-Catholic. Of the religious elements in His Dark Materials, Kidman concedes, “It has been watered down a little.” Craig and director Chris Weitz also share their feelings about the production. See the scans here. Thanks to Mockingbird for letting us know.
Posted by on August 13, 2007 at 12:17 am
An article at the Iranian website Payvand says that the Iranian-born screenwriter, Hossein Amini, will no longer be penning the script for the adaptation of The Subtle Knife. Amini was commissioned to write a draft script back in January, but Payvand reports that “apparently Amini set off working on another movie, Killshot, produced by Quentine Tarantino and the task was given to another talented screenwriter: Chris Weitz.” We’ll see if we can confirm this.
Update: According to New Line’s production executive, Hossein Amini is still the only writer for The Subtle Knife after all.
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