Yes they did!

I think the plan is if the movies a success then the sequel will put the end of book 1 at the beginning of the second film like they switched around lord of the rings.

Pullman wrote the book in 1995. Ann Coulter's first book came out in 1998, plus Pullman is British and may not have even heard of her. Conclusion= coincidence.

I'm torn about how to feel about the movie's probably failure. I really liked a lot of the second book and would have liked to have seen it. But the third one was just a mess in a number of ways.

Why didn't they name the God in this movie Ala instead of giving him the name of the Jewish God in the Jewish Bible? Because the dark forces of this world has an agenda.
Why did the critics bash the PASSION OF THE CHRIST because of it's violence and children should not see it but turn the other way about rap music.
Just like the ACLU will file lawsuits if anything Christain is in the public schools but turn a blind eye if it's Muslium. There is an agenda.

Just like the book! Serafina Pekkala, Iorek Byrnison - it was always spelled out fully in the book. Remember, it's a world parallel to ours, so their customs might be different

I was gonna make a joke about some of you being from Fort Collins, Colorado, but (unless you're joking) one of you actually looks to be from there.

I plan to see this sometime later this weekend... but can reviews be kept to another thread? I'd hate to see this thread become the "official" review thread.

I hardly ever do this, but that was fucking awful. A misfire on all cylinders. The director was CLEARLY outmatched by the material.

Um...no.

You are fucking delusion and have selective memory to boot.

Ever wonder what would happen if someone made a film from the Cliff Notes of a book? Well, look no further, "The Golden Compass" is pretty much that film. It's very short of characterization, almost adequate with exposition by the characters (laughably so, at times), and fairly bad when it comes to plotting and editing. Director Weitz is simply not cut out for the visual demands of a fantastical tale such as TGC, and provides us with fairly static camerawork and uninteresting angles.

There are some bright spots, like Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra, and the CGI creatures ranged from awfully cute to truly vicious. Would have loved to seen more of the world of Lyra before the plot whisked them away.

Anyhow, most will focus on the horrendous "ending" that isn't. It was like watching a film rolling down the highway and then running out of gas. *shakes head*

I give it 1.75 stars, or a grade of C-.

New Line said this movie has to do $60 million opening weekend in order for them to greenlight the other two. There's no way in hell TGC makes that in the next two days. Say goodbye to the sequels.

I don't get it.

Question: how much screen time does Eva Green get in here. She's prob. my #1 reason for seeing this film and was just curious.

Not enough time to justify seeing the movie just for her. I'd say she gets 5-10 minutes tops.
I'm a huge fans of the books, but found the film to be a castrated, mediocre flop. Lyra was great, though, I thought she nailed the character. That, and a cool bear fight finale are the only positives I can think of.

I agree.

I have never read the book, but am going to over this winter break.

I saw the movie tonight (8 PM showing) and it was in the largest capacity theater (around 600 seats) but there were maybe 70-80 people in the theater. That doesn't bode well.

I don't really care if the sequels are made, I can just read the books.

But I did enjoy the movie, and would give it a C+/B-.

The end of the polar bear fight made me !

Probably will be lucky to get $30m for the weekend. That's not really bad but its budget was expensive.

Think that the movie will get better numbers overseas?

Haven't watched the movie yet - will do next weekend.

Wow, not only was Golden Compass the only wide release this week, but it's one of only two wide releases in the past two weeks (along with Awake last week). This movie's only competition was Enchanted in it's 3rd week, and it looks like it'll be barely even able to pull in $25 Million. That's bad.

Really bummed to hear all the negative comments and bad B.O. I saw it tonight and havign never read the books, found it really quite enjoyable. Loved the characters, and the universe did a fine job of sucking me into the story. Certainly more than that snoozefest Narnia.

Definately one of those cases where I wonder if the critics watched the same movie that I did.
As for the church getting its panties in a knot, the less said the better. Aren't these the same people who told me I was going to Hell for watching Life of Brian?

So the critics don't like it and the movie bombed? Score 1 for all those God-loving, patriotic, rednecks that don't live in between NY and LA!

I'm really starting to think Peter jackson put a curse on New Line or something.

I really wanted this to be good, but, alas, I was bored stiff. Absolutely terrible movie. Possibly the worst I've seen all year.

It fizzled for me towards the end.

well I guess the uk likes it more:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=19&cs=1

so with us and uk grosses it made $90 million opening weekend. Bring on the Subtle Knife!

Ouch for the UK. Looks like they'll be facing the wrath of God soon. Of course, the "scientists" will label it as a "natural disaster" and blame it on "global warming". But we'll know the truth!

No, they're predicting it will make $60 million in the UK total. But that, with good box office in other countries outside of North America, may be enough to ensure the rest of the trilogy will be made.