His Dark Materials (TV)

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New chance on the horizon! :o
If you only know author Philip Pullman’s award-winning work from the 2007 movie The Golden Compass, I’m about to encourage you to give his stories another look. Drawing from Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy, the New Line Cinema feature adaptation attempted to bring the first book to life but failed to capture a sizable domestic box office or impress critics. However, the studio is giving it another go, this time on the small screen.

“His Dark Materials” is coming to television in an eight-part series commissioned by BBC One, and will be produced by both New Line and Bad Wolf. The project is New Line’s first move into British television and is the first production for Bad Wolf, a U.S./U.K. company formed by former BBC executives Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner that’s co-sited in South Wales and Los Angeles. “His Dark Materials” will be produced in Wales.

Though released as “The Golden Compass” in North America, the first book in Pullman’s trilogy was titled “Northern Lights” elsewhere. This first third of the tale will form the initial TV series which follows an orphan named Lyra on her search for a kidnapped friend in a parallel universe that combines science, religion, and magic. Lyra’s quest gets more complicated as she uncovers a plot to steal children and comes ever closer to solving the mystery of a substance known as Dust.

The second part of the trilogy, “The Subtle Knife,” sees Lyra joined by Will, who possesses the title knife that can cut doorways between worlds. The two become embroiled in an all-out war, the resolution of which concludes in “The Amber Spyglass.”

Here’s what Pullman had to say about this latest adaptation of his work:

“It’s been a constant source of pleasure to me to see this story adapted to different forms and presented in different media. It’s been a radio play, a stage play, a film, an audiobook, a graphic novel — and now comes this version for television.”

“In recent years we’ve seen how long stories on television, whether adaptations (‘Game of Thrones’) or original (‘The Sopranos,’ ‘The Wire’), can reach depths of characterization and heights of suspense by taking the time for events to make their proper impact and for consequences to unravel. And the sheer talent now working in the world of long-form television is formidable.

“For all those reasons I’m delighted at the prospect of a television version of ‘His Dark Materials.’ I’m especially pleased at the involvement of Jane Tranter, whose experience, imagination, and drive are second to none. As for the BBC, it has no stronger supporter than me. I couldn’t be more pleased with this news.”
http://collider.com/his-dark-materials- ... p-pullman/

:clap:

GOAT literary series that changed my life forever.

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Maybe they'll do a better job at adapting this than 'The Golden Compass' movie.

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The film sounded too good to be true when it was first released. Daniel Craig and Eva Green one year later from their breakout performances in Casino Royale, New Line trying to create their new LOTR, production designs which looked completely gorgeous, but the end result was so... inane.

I've only read the first two novels and didn't even bother to finish the third one, but I do think these books could work serious wonders as a television series.

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Best thing about the movie was Nicole Kidman as Marisa Coulter.

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Pullman is writing his Book of Dust for ages now, now is the right time to do this properly.

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I loathed Kidman's performance; she was so one-note and blunt with the enigmatic personality of Coulter. If they're not going to repeat that mistake and stick to her description from the book, I'd like to see Lara Pulver in the role. Everyone else though was pretty good though; Craig, Green, Blue Richards, even Elliott's very entertaining gun-slinging Lee Scoresby.

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Best thing in the film for me was the polar bear fight scene. The pacing was a bit slow for me but it could have been a solid effort if it wasn't for the main child actress. If only they had cast Ronan for example.£

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‘The King’s Speech’ Director Tom Hooper & ‘Logan’ Star Dafne Keen Sign Up For ‘His Dark Materials’ Adaptation
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EXCLUSIVE: The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper and Dafne Keen, the breakout star of Marvel’s Logan, have signed for the big-budget adaptation of Philip Pullman’s fantasy epic His Dark Materials. I hear that the in-demand director has just closed a deal to helm the eight-part series following lengthy negotiations, while Keen will play main character Lyra, an orphan, who lives in a parallel universe.

I understand that Hooper has been keen for some time to oversee the series, which is produced by Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner’s Bad Wolf in association with New Line Cinema for BBC One, but that he has been trying to make the dates align so that he can do both this as well as the live-action adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats for Universal and Working Title.

Keen, meanwhile, is coming off the back of Logan with Hugh Jackman, where she played Laura, Wolverine’s daughter, otherwise known as X-23. She also starred in Spanish drama The Refugees, which is produced by BBC Worldwide and Atresmedia for La Sexta.

BBC One ordered the series, which is written by National Treasure and Wonder writer Jack Thorne, in 2015. Pullman’s work, which featured three books: Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, is a complex tale of physics, philosophy and theology featuring witches and armored polar bears. It tells the story of the coming of age of two children, Lyra and Will, who wander through a series of parallel universes.

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I liked The King's Speech, The miniseries Elizabeth I and Les Misérables (though I understand if others do not like this one) but I have not seen much else that I find interesting in his filmography.

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This fits like a glove. The novel is essentially an alternative reality period piece, and we all know how Hooper loves his period pieces. It will be hard to top the 2007 cast, but getting Keen for Lyra is one exceptional step in the right direction.

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Book that changed my life. Yes please. Another chance!

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