Golden Compass & Other Movies That Leave You Hanging: Are You F&@#ing Kidding Me?!?

[Ash Ketchum]

I remember as a kid being disappointed that JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963) ended right in the middle of the story, just after they left the place they got the Golden Fleece from, with a whole crapload of adventures still awaiting them before they got back home to Iolcus, where Jason came from. I know the movie was already 104 min., but I wanted to see the whole story, dammit!

Great movie, anyway.

[Matthew Chmiel]

Originally Posted by TheMovieman

Wonder if Warner will pull a Sony move (re: The Da Vinci Code) and release The Golden Compass Extended Cut on Blu-ray...

Considering New Line as an individual company is no more, it may be a possibility depending if Warner wants to invest the time and money into it. It all depends on how far the crew got finished with the footage. If visual effects were never finished for that footage, it may be a tough decision as it may cost a significant amount to complete that footage for a release that may not do well at all.

New Line botched The Golden Compass. Butchering the film plus a terrible release date (early December) are just some of the many reasons it failed.

And people are really clamoring for an Eragon sequel? The source material is shit, so what does one expect when the adaptation is shit? Doesn't help that matters at all that it was produced by a studio that has been ran into the ground by it's chairman, a first time director, and a crew with no imagination or creativity. There's a reason it flopped. Fuck, I'm still shocked it was able to pull in $75 million domestically.

While I'd love sequels to Big Trouble in Little China and Buckaroo Banzai; the time for that has come and gone.

[golden_rod]

Originally Posted by Matthew Chmiel

Considering New Line as an individual company is no more, it may be a possibility depending if Warner wants to invest the time and money into it. It all depends on how far the crew got finished with the footage. If visual effects were never finished for that footage, it may be a tough decision as it may cost a significant amount to complete that footage for a release that may not do well at all.

Everything was completed, they just lopped off the ending at the last minute to save time and because the studio considered it too downbeat.

Honestly, I don't see how the trilogy could be adapted for film in the first place and be a moneymaker. Just try making a movie out of The Amber Spyglass. The attacks on The Golden Compass as an "atheist" movie were mainly based upon that final book, anyway. It is an impossible task.

[Thor Simpson]

Can't you just pick up the sequel to Narnia and pretend it's picking up where Compass left off?

[Sierra Disc]

Bad movie = Do badly = do no sequel

[Labor]

I would love to see the extended cut of Golden Compass released, as the parts of the ending that were seen in the trailers looked well done.

Its really a shame. I love the book, and the ending is such a huge part of why I love it so much. Whoever made the decision to cut it from the film is completely inept. Gurantee that with that ending it would have made a better impression on film goers leaving the movie theater.

Regardless, even if TGC had done better, The Amber Spyglass is pretty much unfilmable...

[Sean O'Hara]

Originally Posted by Ash Ketchum

I remember as a kid being disappointed that JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963) ended right in the middle of the story, just after they left the place they got the Golden Fleece from, with a whole crapload of adventures still awaiting them before they got back home to Iolcus, where Jason came from. I know the movie was already 104 min., but I wanted to see the whole story, dammit!

Great movie, anyway.

Medea kills her brothers, gets knocked up by Jason, and then he dumps her for a princess. Medea then goes full on psycho.

I really don't think that would work in a Harryhausen epic.

[calhoun07]

I am still waiting for Leonard Part 7. And parts 1-5.

[calhoun07]

Originally Posted by Sierra Disc

Bad movie = Do badly = do no sequel

What if it's a good movie=do badly=do no sequel? Because we know we've seen plenty of bad movie=does well=$equel examples to last ten life times. That's one reason I don't believe in karma...there can't be karama when bad movies do well and get sequels but good movies that perform so-so never see a sequel.

[Mr.Briggs]

I wish Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events had done well enough to do the rest of the series. I'm also disappointed in no Golden Compass sequels. I guess if they don't make enough $$$ then leaving people hanging isn't at the top of the list to greenlight a sequel.

[calhoun07]

Originally Posted by Mr.Briggs

I wish Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events had done well enough to do the rest of the series. I'm also disappointed in no Golden Compass sequels. I guess if they don't make enough $$$ then leaving people hanging isn't at the top of the list to greenlight a sequel.

$$$ is the ONLY thing Hollywood cares about. You know if they could have pulled off a Titanic sequel they would have in a heartbeat. It makes not one solitary difference how a movie ends that determines if they make a sequel (and if Titanic wasn't based on a real event, but entirely a fictional movie about a disaster, I bet we would have seen a sequel), which is why it's even more confusing on why they seem to want to do these forced type hanging endings anyway. As if that is going to draw a bigger crowd so they can justify making a sequel if it does better with the hanging ending.

[troystiffler]

The Super Mario Bros Movie. Where is my sequel?

Jerks.

[troystiffler]

Originally Posted by calhoun07

$$$ is the ONLY thing Hollywood cares about.

Haha. Would you invest $5mil in something that you don't think you'd get back? Art or not?

I have some business opportunities for you. Please PM me.

Thanks!

[Matthew Chmiel]

Originally Posted by calhoun07

$$$ is the ONLY thing Hollywood cares about. You know if they could have pulled off a Titanic sequel they would have in a heartbeat. It makes not one solitary difference how a movie ends that determines if they make a sequel (and if Titanic wasn't based on a real event, but entirely a fictional movie about a disaster, I bet we would have seen a sequel), which is why it's even more confusing on why they seem to want to do these forced type hanging endings anyway. As if that is going to draw a bigger crowd so they can justify making a sequel if it does better with the hanging ending.

Some of the times, sequels don't happen to films that made money for other reasons. The right resources can't be put into place to get it out of pre-production or that none of the original cast and/or crew want anything to do with it meaning the studio is less willing to invest. 99% of the time, a sequel will cost more to produce as the cast and crew's stake in the film is worth more.

Using Titanic as a reference, if Cameron told Paramount that he would do Titanic 2 for $100 million in unmarked small bills; Paramount would have the bags of cash delivered to his door by the end of that day. If Cameron and Lightstorm allowed Fox and Paramount to go ahead with a sequel with/without their involvement, that flick would've been fast-tracked into production.

A film like Lemony Snicket didn't get a sequel as it was a financial disappointment both domestically and internationally. If Silberling went to Paramount and told him he could do a sequel that cost around $80 million, Paramount may be more willing to start round two.

Flip side, use Batman Begins. The film's budget was close to the final domestic gross of the film. However, DVD sales were so strong that Warner took a risk and financed a sequel by giving Nolan total creative control and an even bigger budget. A risk that ultimately paid out for everyone involved.

[calhoun07]

Originally Posted by troystiffler

Haha. Would you invest $5mil in something that you don't think you'd get back? Art or not?

I wouldn't make movies with forced set up sequel endings if I was a Hollywood producer. If it was based on a book, even a series of books, I bet there is a satisfactory ending in the book itself that would work fine.

[davidh777]

I liked Golden Compass and wish they had greenlighted more

And yeah, the Bakshi LOTR was finished on television with the Rankin-Bass style that matches The Hobbit but not LOTR. It'd be nice to have HBO or someone finish Golden Compass but it may already be too late to use the same kid actors.

[JJE-187]

Im still waiting on a sequel to the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre! I wanna see somebody dtrap a damn chainsaw in place of Leathers missing arm