Taglines: There are worlds beyond our own – the compass will show the way.
The Golden Compass movie storyline. Based on author Philip Pullman’s bestselling and award-winning novel, The Golden Compass tells the first story in Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. The Golden Compass is an exciting fantasy adventure, set in an alternative world where people’s souls manifest themselves as animals, talking bears fight wars, and Gyptians and witches co-exist.
At the center of the story is Lyra (played by newcomer Dakota Blue Richards), a 12-year-old girl who starts out trying to rescue a friend who’s been kidnapped by a mysterious organization known as the Gobblers – and winds up on an epic quest to save not only her world, but ours as well.
In a parallel world ruled by The Magisterium where people’s souls have animal shapes, the orphan Lyra Belaqua is educated in the Jordan College, and her uncle and Professor Lord Asriel is her tutor. Lyra accidentally overhears a conversation about a research of Lord Asriel in the North Artic and the existence of a powerful Dust that unites different worlds.
When her best friend Roger is kidnapped by the evil Gobblers, Lyra promises to rescue him. She is invited to go to the North with the influent Mrs. Coulter and the Jordan’s Vice-Chancellor secretly gives her a magic golden compass capable of revealing the truth. When Lyra finds that Mrs. Coulter is the leader of the Gobblers, she escapes from her house and the runaway girl begins an amazing adventure in a war to save her friend and other missing children with her allied Gyptians, Witches and the strong Armored Bear Iorek Byrnison.
The Golden Compass is a 2007 British-American fantasy adventure film based on Northern Lights, the first novel in Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials. Written and directed by Chris Weitz, it stars Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott, Eva Green, and Ian McKellen. The project was announced in February 2002, but difficulties over the script and the selection of a director caused significant delays. At US$180 million, it was one of New Line Cinema’s most expensive projects ever,[2] and its disappointing results in the USA contributed to New Line’s February 2008 restructuring.
Before its release, the film received criticism from secularist organisations and fans of His Dark Materials for the dilution of elements of the story which were critical of religion, as well as from some religious organisations for the source material’s anti-Catholic themes. The studio ordered significant changes late in post-production, which Weitz later called a “terrible” experience. Although the film’s visual effects (which Weitz has called the film’s “most successful element”) won both a BAFTA and an Academy Award, critical reception was mixed and revenue lower than anticipated.
The North American opening weekend return was “a little disappointing” for New Line Cinema, earning US$25.8 million with total domestic box office of $70 million compared to an estimated $180 million production budget. Despite this, the film’s fortunes rebounded as its performance outside the United States was described as “stellar” by Variety, and as “astonishing” by New Line. In the United Kingdom, the film grossed $53,198,635 and became the second highest grossing non-sequel of 2007 there (behind The Simpsons Movie).
In Japan, the film was officially released in March 2008 on 700 screens, ultimately grossing $33,501,399; but previews of the film between February 23–24, 2008, earned $2.5 million. By July 6, 2008, it had earned $302,127,136 internationally, totaling $372,234,864 worldwide.[1] Overseas rights to the film were sold to fund the $180 million production budget for the film, so most of these profits did not go to New Line. This has been cited as a possible “last straw” in Time Warner’s decision to merge New Line Cinema into Warner Bros. Pictures.
A Note From Writer / Director Chris Weitz
For Lyra, the child at the center of The Golden Compass, the journey begins in the relative safety of her Oxford home and takes her to the edge of the world. My voyage with this story began in London seven years ago, when a friend suggested I read Philip Pullman’s books while I was in the relative safety of directing a movie called About a Boy.
I knew immediately that I wanted to translate these books to film. I was absolutely stunned by the imagination, daring and intelligence of the books. Pullman’s insights range from the everyday to the metaphysical, and his great trilogy is a testament to nothing less than the freedom and potential of the human soul. The Golden Compass, the first book of the series, offers everything a filmmaker could want – a compelling story, fascinating characters, psychological and philosophical depth, and an abiding wonder at its heart. For me, there could be no better challenge to turn my hand to over the intervening years.
It takes a great deal of fortitude to watch someone adapt your work to another medium, and I am indebted to Mr. Pullman for trusting me with one of the twentieth century’s greatest works of the imagination, and for being a consistent source of advice and support.
I will always be grateful to New Line for giving me the opportunity to make the Golden Compass, for displaying trust in me throughout its long gestation, and for helping to put together an extraordinary cast and crew. I’m just one of the many people working on the film who have been inspired by these books, and I have been consistently amazed by their dedication, and the effort and creativity they have brought to it. For all of us living with the sheer size and scope of this film, which has consumed our days and occasionally our nights, it has been a labor of love.
Daemons and Dust: The Language of The Golden Compass
Alethiometer
A truth-telling or future-telling device that is able to answer questions formed in the mind of the user.
Anbaric Energy
A form of electrical current used in Lyra’s world.
Bolvangar
The northern Experimental Station where Gobblers have secreted the children they’ve kidnapped.
Daemon (pronounced DEE-mon)
The soul of each individual human being embodied in an animal familiar. In childhood, a daemon alters its form to reflect the ever-changing nature of children. In adulthood, it assumes a permanent form that best reflects the inner nature of its human.
Dust
Mystical particles in highest concentration in the Arctic Circle.
Gobblers
The henchmen of the General Oblation Board who are responsible for disappearing children across the country.
Gyptians
Similar to gypsies, the Gyptians are a nomadic group of water farers who live on canal boats.
Intercision
The process of severing a human being from his or her daemon.
Jordan College
A prosperous college in Lyra’s Oxford that is a center of experimental theology.
The Magisterium
The councils that form the heart of government in Lyra’s world. Now tightening its control over the populace, the Magisterium seeks to eliminate free will and calls Lord Asriel’s research into Dust heresy.
Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)
Storms of charged particles and intense solar rays that cause a luminous radiation in the arctic circle. Lord Asriel believes the Northern Lights cloak a magnificent city in the sky.
North
A place of great beauty, diversity, and danger, it is home to armored bears, Tartars, witches, and innumerable creatures. Lord Asriel has photographed Dust and a sort of other world in the Aurora from an outpost in the North.
Panserbjørne
Armored bears who live in the northern region of Svalbard. While not possessed of dæmons, the Panserbjørne make special armor that they liken to their own souls.
Photogram
A type of photographic image; a slide.
Samoyeds
Northern hunters who kidnap Lyra and bring her to Bolvangar.
Spy Flies
Small mechanized insects rumored to be made from both machinery and trapped souls.
Svalbard
A cold, rugged Northern region inhabited by armored bears.
Tartars
A warlike people who live to the north.
Witches
Female beings that travel through the air and outlive humans by hundreds of years.
Continue Reading and View the Theatrical Trailer
The Golden Compass (2007)
Directed by: Chris Weitz
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Eva Green, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Nonso Anozie, Sam Elliott, Charlie Rowe, Jim Carter, Clare Higgins, Ben Walker, Kathy Bates, Kristin Scott Thomas
Screenplay by: Chris Weitz
Production Design by: Dennis Gassner
Cinematography by: Henry Braham
Film Editing by: Anne V. Coates, Peter Honess, Kevin Tent
Costume Design by: Ruth Myers
Set Decoration by: Anna Pinnock
Art Direction by: Richard L. Johnson, Chris Lowe
Music by: Alexandre Desplat
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence.
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
Release Date: December 7, 2007
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