Coming Soon, from the LA Times is saying that New Line will make The Golden Compass, the first novel in the trilogy, then gauge the audience desire for more, it will be at that point they will decide on the fate of the following two novel translations The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.
Considering the possible backlash if the heavy plot change doesn’t take well with the fans of the series, it may well be a wise move. Mind you, if the film is any good anyway they could easily turn away from the fan base and create a new movie going fan base. Regardless, let’s leave that thought for the moment and think on this that Coming Soon also reported:
…and New Line says the “Materials” trilogy would soar far beyond the $350 million the studio spent on “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy…New Line has committed to producing only The Golden Compass, a special-effects-driven fantasy which could cost more than $150 million to bring to the screen.
Wow. That’s one hell of a lot of money. Rich source material (barring the big changes) with a huge fan base, and an astronomical budget, how could it fail? Answers on a comments form!
However, still no Director to replace Chris Weitz, but considering this project has been ongoing since 2002, it’s not really that big an issue. Looks like New Line will be quite happy waiting for the right Director.
it will be depressing if they mess up the script but even worse if they mess up the casting!
If they mess the Golden Compass up, I’m afraid I’m going to have to shoot someone. Not literally, I guess, but I will, no doubt, be angry.
It doens’t matter how good the source material is. It only matters a little how big the budget is. If they land a good writer and director for this project, it will kick ass and make lots of money. If they grab McG or Uwe Boll, it will suck, big time, and flop at the box office.