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'Golden Compass' Doesn't Get the Lead Out
Box Office Mojo ^ | Dec 10, 2007 | Brandon Gray

Posted on 12/11/2007 3:23:15 PM PST by I still care

Not the oasis it was intended to be, The Golden Compass failed to guide the box office out of the desert. A dispirited response to the fantasy adaptation combined with a largely pathetic group of holdovers led to the least attended early December frame in 13 years.

The Golden Compass pointed to $25.8 million on approximately 5,600 screens at 3,528 theaters, which was about average for a live action fantasy. The turnout was well below half that of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe or The Lord of the Rings movies, and the picture was clearly gunning for that league with its reportedly $180 million plus production budget, high screen count and December release date. It was more on par with the less hyped Eragon and Bridge to Terabithia, albeit those pictures had much lower screen counts and more crowded release dates.

Since the phenomenal success of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies, fantasy has been one of the genre fads in Hollywood and Golden Compass suffered from the resulting glut. In its marketing, the picture looked indistinguishable from all the other fantasy movies and its story wasn't clear and hence was not relatable. Throwing a bunch of computer-generated antics and talking animals on the screen is not enough to garner a sizable audience. What's more, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Narnia are the exceptions in the fantasy genre, which was known for its disappointments prior to their release. Those movies had high interest from the popularity of the books on which they were based, whereas the foundations of Golden Compass and other recent fantasies were not nearly as culturally substantial.

(Excerpt) Read more at boxofficemojo.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: atheism; atheistsupremacist; bomb; boxoffice; christianbashing; christianity; goldencompass; mediabias; pullman
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I guess my prediction is coming true. What I found interesting about this article is total lack of how the Christian boycott may have figured into the lackluster sales.

They instead say that people may be getting tired of fantasy, just like that article I read how because all the recent Hollywood war films have bombed, people "don't like war films anymore".

1 posted on 12/11/2007 3:23:17 PM PST by I still care
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To: I still care

He is correct about fantasy being more often miss than hit (prior to Potter/Rings/Narnia), but I certainly fail to see a “glut” of fantasy films in theaters.


2 posted on 12/11/2007 3:26:31 PM PST by ECM (Government is a make-work program for lawyers.)
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To: I still care

I don’t think it is just the Christian boycott. I am hoping it is that enough people are tired of blatant propaganda from the libs.


3 posted on 12/11/2007 3:27:00 PM PST by dynachrome (Immigration without assimilation means the death of this nation~Captainpaintball)
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To: I still care
the foundations of Golden Compass ... were not nearly as culturally substantial.

True that. Word up.

4 posted on 12/11/2007 3:28:39 PM PST by bvw
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To: dynachrome
There was no propaganda in the film as it was squeaked clean of the book’s anti-Clericalism.
5 posted on 12/11/2007 3:29:12 PM PST by Borges
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To: I still care

To kill god is to kill hope, the Golden Compas is there to kill god. Nobody wants to see a movie that says there is no hope.

The anti war movies were not about war, they were about demanding defeat. Nobody likes loosers and anti-war movies celebrate loosers.


6 posted on 12/11/2007 3:29:28 PM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: longtermmemmory

Yeah, and just in time for Christmas. What this country really needs is a good God-bashing movie at Christmas time.


7 posted on 12/11/2007 3:37:33 PM PST by Juan Medén
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To: I still care

How fitting that the Golden Compass was deemed to have lost it way, and couldn’t attract an audience, who clearly knew where it was headed.


8 posted on 12/11/2007 3:41:13 PM PST by DoughtyOne (California, where the death penalty is reserved for wholesome values. SB 777)
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To: I still care
Since the phenomenal success of the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies, fantasy has been one of the genre fads in Hollywood and Golden Compass suffered from the resulting glut.

Glut or no, the fans will turn out for the next Narnia movie in May. Content matters as much as (or more than) genre.

9 posted on 12/11/2007 3:43:05 PM PST by Constitutionalist Conservative (Global Warming Heretic -- http://agw-heretic.blogspot.com)
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To: Borges

Only for the first one. Sequels are planned and will be true to the books (except for substituting magisterium for catholicism)


10 posted on 12/11/2007 3:45:58 PM PST by dynachrome (Immigration without assimilation means the death of this nation~Captainpaintball)
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To: I still care
Yeah. We'll see how tired of fantasy people are when Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (http://www.narniaweb.com/news.asp?id=1355&dl=14478175) comes out on May 16.
11 posted on 12/11/2007 3:46:43 PM PST by Timmy
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To: I still care
Movie goers aren’t getting tired of fantasy, and apparently neither is this writer.
12 posted on 12/11/2007 3:47:36 PM PST by Jeff Chandler ("Liberals want to save the world for the children they aren't having." -Mark Steyn)
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To: dynachrome

I don’t know if there will be any sequels at this point.


13 posted on 12/11/2007 3:48:21 PM PST by Borges
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To: I still care
Better to see a Good Christmas Movie than this loser!!

Pistov

14 posted on 12/11/2007 3:56:21 PM PST by Pistov Elf (Merry Christmas! Catch the Spirit early and spread it around!!)
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To: Juan Medén

I saw this movie as anti-liberal. You have the young woman leader abusing children and citizens and the militia beating her organized armies.


15 posted on 12/11/2007 3:57:51 PM PST by Loud Mime (It's snowing in AZ! Al Gore left on his Gulfstream to warmer places.)
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To: I still care

A couple of my godless co-workers said they were going explicitly to stymie the boycott.

They came back reporting that it was not a great adaptation of the book, despite the delicious special effects.


16 posted on 12/11/2007 4:05:02 PM PST by VictoryGal (Never give up, never surrender!)
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To: dynachrome
Well, my daughter went with her boyfriend as the family scouts.

Their report? It just wasn’t that good a movie, save money and wait until it comes out on video.

17 posted on 12/11/2007 4:05:22 PM PST by PeteB570 (Guns, what real men want for Christmas)
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To: Borges

Ideology trumps profit for these guys.


18 posted on 12/11/2007 4:06:41 PM PST by dynachrome (Immigration without assimilation means the death of this nation~Captainpaintball)
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To: I still care

19 posted on 12/11/2007 4:06:44 PM PST by Old Sarge (This tagline in memory of FReeper 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub)
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To: VictoryGal

See my post # 17.


20 posted on 12/11/2007 4:06:52 PM PST by PeteB570 (Guns, what real men want for Christmas)
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