The Golden Compass | Subtle Knife movie uncertainty continues | His Dark Materials

Subtle Knife movie uncertainty continues

Posted by krebbe on July 19, 2008 at 11:59 pm

Philip Pullman cast fresh doubt on the big screen future of the trilogy, revealing he has yet to receive any contact regarding filming for The Subtle Knife. Talking to The Independent, he explained:

“I know everyone would like to see a sequel and I know I’d like to see it. When the first film was in production, I was talking to the studio and to Chris Weitz and producers quite frequently. I’m sure I would be now if the sequel was in production.”

Director Chris Weitz declined to comment, stating he did not want to talk about the project while the studio responsible for the first film was refusing to discuss the future of the trilogy.

In a separate interview with The Telegraph Mr Pullman lamented the role of religious protesters on the U.S. box office figures. Although he thought the attacks were misdirected, he had “no doubt to say it did influence a number of people not to go to see it.” In spite of this, he played down fears that the sequels had been scrapped, insisting it was quite normal for potential films to remain in limbo for some time before a final decision is made. He remains “hopeful” that the sequels will be made.

Michael Gubbins, the editor of Screen International, said it was unlikely that the film could be brought out by next year, especially in a tough box office environment with “trilogy congestion” in following months, but that the franchise was likely to be revisited in the future.

The full stories can be read at The Telegraph and The Independent.

Update (5 Aug 2008): After speaking to the producers, Mr Pullman has revealed the film’s recent developments to the Oxford Mail:

“They are getting a script together and they have plans to get things going - in time all things are possible and I feel quite positive about it.”

Skye says:

What is the legal status on this? Who owns the rights to the movies? (I seem to remember it being a woman who said that she would find another studio if the first didn’t want to make the sequel, I’m terrible with names.) Now that New Line Cinema doesn’t really exist any more, who would be making the movie if it -is- made?

July 20, 2008 7:47 am | link

Greg says:

I seem to recall that woman being Deborah Forte, the producer, who said she would get the movie made. To the best of my knowledge, she doesn’t own the rights to it, though. I would think that Warner Brothers owns it now, since they bought up New Line.

To be honest though, I don’t think they would make TSK until the Harry Potter movies are finished… I guess we’ll see what happens…

July 20, 2008 10:43 am | link

Lee says:

I’m very angry at religion right now. Haha. They really, really need to read the books and get it through their idiotic skulls that the books aren’t attacking them.

I’m also angry at the studios for bending to these idiots’ demands.

July 20, 2008 11:57 pm | link

Serafina_tikklya says:

The religious right needs to keep their opinions to themselves! If they don’t want to read a book or see a movie, then they don’t need to do so. However, they should stop trying to force their religious opinions on others! If they wish to notify their friends that they feel that some book or movie is inappropriate, then do so.

My personal belief is that they are so concerned that someone will believe these fantasy books and movies are how the world really is (or should be.)

I really get upset about them spouting off about children’s books. It is the responsibility of PARENTS to decide what their children should or should not read - not some jerk in an alb! Or some ultraconservative nincompoop! Let the parents decide. The important thing is that children read! ANYTHING as long as it isn’t pornographic. Especially since these are works of FICTION, people! There isn’t a Lyra, or Harry Potter for that matter. Can’t they or their children decide for themselves what’s real and what isn’t? And what a perfect time to discuss your religious, moral or ethical ideas than to share reading a “controversial” book with your children!

July 21, 2008 12:42 am | link

Anita says:

If they make a Subtle Knife movie, I’m sorry but I’d like a different director and take on it. TGC was mainly marketed at children and quite frankly it was NOT a good movie because its audience was unclear. 5 year old will not understand HDM and if that’s who it’s targeted at, TSK will not do well. I’m thinking Andrew Adamson (Narnia) would make a perfect director - his adaptions of the Narnia series were flawless and amazing movies, and because he directed Narnia the christians might think again before protesting.
Honestly, (sorry Chris Weitz) I know that he was passionate about the books, but maybe New Line was to blame? Even so, his script was poor (in my opinion) and some parts were just plain cheesy.
A different director, and being marketed as a whole new movie (not advertised as a sequel to TGC ) would probably help it along. It would make an amazing movie. But it needs an amazing director and film company to do so. Maybe in ten year TGC will be made into a decent movie, who knows?
I’m still at school now, but man would I love to direct the HDM movies.

July 21, 2008 12:35 pm | link

TheRealNeo says:

@Anita

From where do you knwo his script? The Hollywood Reporter checked it and Tom Stoppard’s and Weitz was the best. He did not mess it up. After he finished his 2 1/2 Cut (without the cut ending), New Line took out an hour and there were re-shoots to give the new line cut sense. We haven’t seen Weitz movie in the cinema. His movie is better.

Adamson made from Narnia an 1:1 adaption. and the narnia books are easily to adapt.

July 21, 2008 1:24 pm | link

john (2) says:

i agree wi anita !! well ive jus left school (uni in october)
and i wud SO DO A BETTER JOB OF DIRECTING THAN CHRIS WEITZ
i see it now - we would start flying over lake enara and meeting serafina being told the entire prophesy regarding lyra .
none of this dust crap . dust was too flashy . it needed to look more natural, i feel ..
hmm but yeahh . id do it better . i took media studies gcse my sister did it at uni . hahaaaaa
eurgh they rele mucked it up didnt they
xx

July 21, 2008 4:12 pm | link

john (2) says:

oo i might add it is very difficult to direct such a trilogy wehn there is so much going on - i say we get lotrs director - coz that in all honesty was waht i was expecting
ANOTHER WORLD that LOOKED REAL
none of this nonsense where they underplayed daemons and made the world look different by adding ‘anbaric energy’ and green fire . you’re idiots . it needed to be us, tilted a little weirdly and steampunky and victorianesque . it was too .. weird tbh . not enough like home .
if u get me .

CMON WEITZ DIRECTED AMERICAN PIE FOR AUTHORITYS SAKE xx

July 21, 2008 4:16 pm | link

TheRealNeo says:

His brother did.;)He just co-directed.
Peter Jackson made Splatter-movies before lord of the rings.

Don’t make Weitz bad. He’s a good director. New Line was just a bad studio for the movie.
You’ll see when we hopefully get the Director’s Cut.

July 21, 2008 6:58 pm | link

Haley says:

I think the whole religian thing is stupid and the church has to get their info righ and read the books befor they say any thing about the movie and the books and let people read and see what they want. I love the books and the movie and I have a very religous family and I get yelled at by everyone but my Mon and my Grandpa.

July 21, 2008 8:52 pm | link

Gobbler says:

I wish they would just get on with TSK as Lyra and Roger will be getting older and taller, these books have a huge following and the sequal films will be big. Look at Japan china and the rest of the world, it taken more money than people really know. COME ON WARNER, LETS GET ON WITH IT!!!!! THANK YOU

July 21, 2008 11:11 pm | link

Serafina_tikklya says:

I agree with Grumman. I think in a few years they should just start all over, and do the three movies all at once so there isn’t a problem with the kids aging or the people playing the other characters not being available to do the sequels. And I think that a British film company should do it (sorry I’m not familiar with any British film studios). Since the British theater has already an adapted script for a play, why not work from that script, perhaps expanding it to suit the film medium.

I would love to see a director’s cut of Weitz’ The Golden Compass. Although I agree that it could have been much better, I think this is a very hard book series to adapt to film. And I actually enjoyed the film, probably because I LOVE movies and HDM.

July 22, 2008 1:31 am | link

HOPE says:

Hi Guys, I disagree I think that they should use the characters they used as they played the parts well. The film was listed in the top 20 films of the year and although it started off slow it took big numbers in DVD puchases and rentals. The film was very good although i agree it would have been better if it had been slightly longer and they had listened to the Director Chris Weitz.
The film has a host of big actors names and I and many other know what a success it will be to complete the trilogy. I hear a rumour that auditions are taking place for the character will. Fingers crossed

July 22, 2008 3:14 pm | link

Serafina_tikklya says:

Oh Hope, you do give me some! (Hope that is!)I would LOVE to see the entire trilogy made with the original actors, as I thought it was well cast.

I think that they just sliced and diced it too much to fit in a 1-1/2 hour format. The story is too involved to be made into such a short film.

July 22, 2008 10:57 pm | link

baltaje says:

who is this “everybody” wanting tsk to be made? i sure don’t. i didn’t want the first one to be made, because i knew what would happen. the potential is just beyond the capabilities of any studio for the simple reason they don’t want to make a so-called childrens’ movie that will offend or seriously traumatize people.
hdm is more grown-up than the little pixie dust they showed in the cinema, and while it doesn’t need stark religious overtones in the first part (that was carried out in an acceptable manner, actually) i can understand why parents might object. i don’t agree, but i think i comprehend their intent.

July 23, 2008 12:50 am | link

Paul says:

I’m sure if The Subtle Knife were made, I’d go see it. That said, it doesn’t look as if that’s likely to happen, and I’m not sorry. The first film was a catastrophe, and, say what you will about the changes forced by the studio (I’m sure they did a lot of damage), I never saw any hints of greatness lurking behind the movie. Oh, if there’s a director’s cut I’ll give it a chance, but my instinct is that from the ground up the project was never well-executed. It’s okay with me if the other books are spared the same treatment. Maybe it will make it easier for everyone to forget that the Golden Compass movie ever happened.

Maybe in twenty or thirty years when the memory of this film is long gone someone will remember that the books are really good and make a proper movie of the trilogy. That’d be the best hope, I think.

If they are going to do more films now, I hope they really get cracking, because they really need to use the same children; recasting would really not be okay, and Dakota Blue Richards will be too old soon. But if there are no more films, which is what I’m pretty much expecting, well, I can’t be sad about that.

July 23, 2008 3:24 am | link

Gobbler says:

I dont agree with baltaje,but I do agree with Serafina_tikklya and what they tried to do with the Golden Compass.Lets not forget that it was a fantasy film so it should not have offended anyone. So I really dont understand why the americans abanded this film when the americans paid $11 million for purchasing the film on DVD and $7 Million in rentals. This film is in the top 20 films made and was in the top 3 films in the UK and around the world for weeks.It took Japan and china by storm read the reports on www.Bridgetothestars.net. This must speak for its self.You cant start a trilogy and then not finish it, lets not forget nicole has only just had her baby??

July 23, 2008 5:51 pm | link

Greg says:

You know, Skye has a very good point. I know it was discussed before, but maybe The worlds of His Dark Materials just need a fresh new take, and anime would be a great style for it. (especially Miyazaki)
I for one loved the movie, or at least the parts we the public were allowed to see, and thought that the quality of production rivals any other fantasy movie today. Heck, it was a lot better than the last Harry Potter movie!
And let me just say to the people who think this is not a kid’s book- It’s a book for all ages and everybody, and if you don’t get that, than I think you’re kind of missing the point.
One last thing, I know most of us HDM fans are atheists and the like, but please, let’s not gain up on religion, because it’s not religion, but intolerant religious individuals who we should be upset with for ruining box office sales of the movie. (in the US)

July 23, 2008 9:39 pm | link

Sari says:

It’s not fair, they need to do it with the original cast, I don’t care what anyone says, I liked the people they picked. It did well in every other country didn’t it? It made enough money for the next film. Why don’t they just ignore the people complaining about the whole religion thing. For crying out loud it is just a film, it’s not real. People are just overeacting about it.

July 24, 2008 1:02 am | link

Lucy says:

I want the TSK to be made!!!
I agree with Sari, they need to do it with dakota, nicole, daniel, etc. the cast was great. and without that cast ppl will lose interest. they should hurry because dakota blue is growing and i wouldn’t like a 17 years old Lyra.
About the religion…
well first, im catholic and I didnt have problems reading the books. they were awesome and I think that all the stuff about “The Authority” was just a STORY, come on!! and besides, the story is not for children. Many children must be “influenced” by the anticatholic thoughts but the children doesnt even UNDERSTAND. You have to be mature enough to understand is just a story with purposes of enternaiment. The trilogy is great and I would like to see another director too. Maybe like Harry Potter or Narnia??

July 24, 2008 1:39 am | link

Gobbler says:

I understand the main man is Bob Shayne is the CEO and their web page address is, http://www.newline.com/aboutus.html. Come on everyone lets get some attention from them after all, all we want is to know when TSK is going to be made.

July 25, 2008 11:55 pm | link

ChristyM says:

To be honest, when I first heard about the movie, I was extatic. But as the year went on and concept art was released and so on, I was looking forward to this movie less and less. And, when the movie came out, I wasn’t wrong. It was abysmal, in my eyes, and I wasn’t looking forward to the next one. Then I realised: No film can ever capture the essence and passion of the brilliance of a well written book. I mean, yeah you could make it entertaining and possibly a worthwhile watch, but reading the book as a pose to the film is alot better. And this is why I will not be seeing The time Travellers Wife Film OR The Subtle Knife.

July 27, 2008 2:15 am | link

TheRealNeo says:

To what was posted in the media, the film was cut by the studio quite a bit earlier than it may have seemed. This meant that visuals were not all completed to a sufficient and presentable standard. To finish the visual effects on Weitz version of the film may prove to be prohibitively expensive. He’s going to be handing in a version of the film and a budget to the studio; but he would be surprised if they agree to fund it. And they still hold the rights to the film, so that would be the only way a version would be completed. It’s a great shame, but there it is.”

don’t ask for the source.

July 27, 2008 2:00 pm | link

Serafina_tikklya says:

According to the Oxford Mail in terview with Philip Pullman “He told the Oxford Mail: “It is quite possible that a sequel will happen but, as everyone knows, the film did not do well in the box office in America and that has a large effect on people’s plans. I spoke to the producers last week and they told me about the latest developments.

“They are getting a script together and they have plans to get things going - in time all things are possible and I feel quite positive about it.”

I certainly hope this comes about soon, before Dakota gets too old!

July 28, 2008 5:43 am | link

Erin Rose says:

I would really love there to be a second moive. I’ve read all the books and loved all of them and the film was great!
I’m really desperate to play Angelica in The Subtle Knife so if anyone knows anything about auditions for that part pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease let me know???
Because I’ve heard rumors that that part has already been taken but I’m just hoping it hasn’t xxxxx

July 29, 2008 9:01 pm | link

Gobbler says:

I saw Ben Walker who played Roger in TGC has been busy I saw him Dead man walk in Torchwood he was good,I was talking to someone on the internet who knows him and apparently he has recently finished filming for The Last Van Helsing due out on TV in Oct 2008 and a Comedy Series in September on Channel 4 called Plus One, he gets about!I understand that he would really love to finish the two films which he saya will be a big hit.

August 2, 2008 3:49 pm | link

ghf says:

I just find it interesting how bridgetothestars.net posts everything movie related in a negative slant, while hisdarkmaterials.org posts everything movie related with a positive slant. I’m posting the same thing on their site, so it’s not like I’m biased one way or another. It’s just interesting.

August 4, 2008 10:32 am | link

krebbe says:

We try to provide a balanced summary of HDM-related news. This article was in response to many news articles posting that The Golden Compass was going to be the only movie made of the trilogy. We took a more moderate stance by portraying it as another in a long line of uncertainties related to the sequels, which it is. We try to avoid being too sensationalist and stick to the facts and the quotations as much as possible, although there’s bound to be a fair amount of hearsay considering all the twists and turns The Golden Compass has been through.

August 5, 2008 12:09 am | link

daemon_light says:

because Pullman’s positive feeling about the film being made isn’t grounded enough on fact. While it seems promising that the films could get made, what he said isn’t really based on fact. And BTTS tries to base its news on reliable info.

I’m also very hopeful for the film. I hope we get both a Director’s cut and a sequel. It’d make me so much happier. The Golden Compass film is a good one… but I think more will come to realize it when the other films are made.

August 5, 2008 11:01 pm | link

Subtle Knife movie uncertainty continues

Posted by krebbe on July 19, 2008 at 11:59 pm

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