Posted on 12/17/2009 7:37:18 AM PST by marshmallow
The author Philip Pullman has expressed his disappointment that the second two novels in his fantasy trilogy have not yet made it to the big screen
The author Philip Pullman has spoken of his disappointment over the failure of Hollywood to complete the film trilogy of his series of fantasy novels, His Dark Materials.
The actor Sam Elliott, who starred in the 2007 adaptation of the first novel, Northern Lights (the film was called The Golden Compass), said earlier this week that books two and three were not being filmed due to a successful campaign by America's religious right. The Golden Compass grossed more than £230m around the world, but was less successful in America, where the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights called for a boycott on the grounds that Pullman's books introduced children to atheism.
Pullman, 63, told the Western Mail: "If Sam is right then I am very disappointed because it obviously would have been very good to have seen the other two films made."
Catholic League leader Bill Donahue has said he is "delighted" by the effectiveness of his religious boycott – "I knew if we could hurt the box office receipts here, it might put the brakes on the next movie."
Pullman said of Donahue's triumphalism: "It's disgusting, but only the sort of behaviour I expect of these people. It's rubbish [that the Golden Compass introduces children to atheism]."
He added that he was particularly disappointed because the film adaptation of Northern Lights finished about three quarters of the way into the book. "So there were a number of very important scenes that were shot and were very good, but we didn't see them in the film.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
Indeed. The schools do that.
Golden Compass was BORING and did not do that great at the box office.
I do not hear ANYONE wishing to see the trilogy made.
Supposedly, at the end of the third book, the protagonists actually ‘kill God’.
If that ain’t atheism (or outright satanic), what is?
Maybe because Golden Compass was a box office disaster??
Of course has nothing to do with the fact that the film was a boring piece of crap...IT WAS THE CATHOLICS~!~!
How can you kill something that, according to them, doesn't exist?
As a movie it was only a low fair at best. The little one gave it a thumbs down and she didn't grow any horns after seeing it.
Most of the explicit anti-religion elements were sanitized in the movie version. Such sanitizing gets increasingly difficult as the trilogy moves into the second and third books.
Just an observation
Any movie that attacks ANY church rarely makes money.
People want to be entertained, not insulted. Movies that bring people together (like the excellant “The Blind Side”) appeal to everyone, make everyone feel good, and also manage to turn a profit. Consider any Pixar movie, the older Disney movies, Mel Gibson’s “The Passion” and Family Movies in general.
Want to make money? Make a product that appeals to everyone; don’t offend the Democrats (rare) or offend the Conservatives (very common). Make a movie that shows America at it’s best, like the John Wayne movies - and you’ll have more money than you know what to do with.
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