The Golden Compass

Starring: Nicole Kidman ... Marisa Coulter

Daniel Craig ... Lord Asriel
Dakota Blue Richards ... Lyra Belacqua
Ben Walker ... Roger
Nonso Anozie ... Iorek Byrnison (voice)

Eva Green ... Serafina Pekkala
Jim Carter ... John Faa
Tom Courtenay ... Farder Cordam
Charlie Rowe ... Billy Costa
Clare Higgins ... Ma Costa
Steven Loton ... Tony Costa

Sam Elliott ... Lee Scoresby

Synopsis: It was no ordinary life for a young girl: living among scholars in the hallowed halls of Jordan College and tearing unsupervised through Oxford's motley streets on mad quests for adventure. But Lyra's greatest adventure would begin closer to home, the day she heard hushed talk of an extraordinary particle. Microscopic in size, the magical dust- found only in the vast Artic expanse of the North -was rumored to possess profound properties that could unite whole universes. But there were those who feared the particle and would stop at nothing to destroy it. Catapulted into the heart of a terrible struggle, Lyra was forced to seek aid from clans, gyptians, and formidable armored bears. And as she journeyed into unbelievable danger, she had not the faintest clue that she alone was destined to win, or to lose, this more-than-mortal battle... Written by Krista

Adaptation of the Carnegie Medal-winning novel by Pullman, the first volume in the His Dark Materials trilogy. In a parallel Oxford, young Lyra Belacqua begins a dimension-crossing odyssey that builds from a merely atypical children's adventure into a complex (and frequently quite dark) philosophical epic. Written by Tom Aylward-Nally

Lyra Belaqua, living in Oxford's Jordan College, is not but a young girl living among scholars. Her world may seem diverse, from physical embodiments of souls that take the shape of an animal, but similar with people around you to become friends and enemies. She is thrown into a perilous adventure when she overhears a conversation of an extraordinary microscopic particle, Dust. This particle is said to unite different worlds, and is feared by many who want to destroy it forever. As Lyra is flung into the middle of this horrible struggle, she meets wondrous creatures both big and small, and villains who are not what they seem. Gobblers, that kidnap children, will turn out in the most unexpected places. And a magical compass of gold that will answer any question if one is skilled enough to read it. Lyra's adventure continues throughout these three books, and the first is about to be told. Written by Reaz

Thoughts: Will the Golden Compass movie be spectacular?

by Scribble King

It seems that fans of the His Dark Materials books have nothing to worry about. The movie version of their favorite series of books is well underway, and author Philip Pullman has given his nod of approval. "I think it`s going to be - at the very least - spectacular," Pulman said on his personal website, and when the author of the book you are making a movie of is giving you his nod of approval, you know you are on to something good.

Whenever an announcement is made that Hollywood is going to make another book-based movie, fans of that book are flushed by mixed emotions. On one hand: It's cool! You will see the book that you love so much being brought to life, and with all the insane amounts of money that Hollywood throws at these things, you know that at the very least you are in for something spectacular. Plus, you will find that your friends, that normally don't read books, and who look at you with a look of "here we go again" when you tell them how wonderful the book is, will suddenly be more interested in what you have to say when Hollywood has started bombarding them with their usual hype. But then there's the bad things...

A movie version of a book you have read can seriously mess with your own views of what the characters and the locations look like. I had read all the Harry Potter books before the movie came out, and had a very clear picture of how everything looked, but now, after having seen the movies several times, I cannot remember anything of what I thought Harry and friends should have looked like. And then there's always the chance that the movie will suck, that the heart will be ripped out and replaced with something that's more 'audience-friendly'. And if the movie does suck, there goes your chance of convincing your friends to also read those wonderful books.

However, several months into production, it looks like fans of His Dark Materials have nothing to worry about. "I can`t go on speaking in superlatives, but it all looks better than I would have thought possible," is Pullman's conclusion at the end of the set report on his website. He was amazed at what the Hollywood-wizards have come up with, and marvelled at how everything looked. "I can`t imagine a better cast, and the sets and costumes are just astounding."

As is par for the course when Hollywood-studios have a big money maker on their hands, they are still very reluctant when it comes to showing us anything. To be exact, we have one official picture from the movie, while there have been a handful of secretly taken pictures that don't really show that much. It's enough to drive a fan mad. What do the actors look like in their costumes? What are the daemons going to look like? Will Dakota Blue Richards be well cast for the role of Lyra? Who knows? Well, Pullman at least has a clue.

"There`s a long way to go yet. I know that people are curious to see the stars, and especially to see Dakota. You will, but not yet. It will all be worth the wait."

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