Reply #14: Kind of funny too [View All]

[salvorhardin]

From what I understand the movie is doing phenomenally well overseas. Something like almost 4 times what the total US sales have been (which was about $70 million IIRC). Yet the studio says they're basing their decisions on whether or not to make the other books into films on the US sales.

As for myself, I'm ambivalent. I didn't think The Golden Compass was a very good film and it suffered from not just the studio's butchering of the story (by taking the anti-religious sentiments out) but also trying to cram a very long and complex book into just one film. As a result the pacing was frenetic. Still, the visual effects were brilliant. I can only hope that the film spurred a number of people into actually picking up the book who might not have done so before, but as cinema I ultimately think it's a failed project.