The Golden Compass (2007)
- During the filming of The Golden Compass, Nicole Kidman improvised one of the most famous lines in the movie.
- The incredible score for The Golden Compass was composed in just a few weeks after the original composer dropped out.
- Before Nicole Kidman was cast, several major A-list stars turned down the lead role because they felt the script was too risky.
The Golden Compass is a 2007 American fantasy adventure directed by Chris Weitz, based on Philip Pullman's acclaimed novel Northern Lights. Dakota Blue Richards stars as Lyra Belacqua, a headstrong orphan at Oxford's Jordan College in a parallel world where every human's soul takes the form of an animal companion called a daemon. When children begin disappearing and Lyra discovers a conspiracy involving the powerful Magisterium's experiments to sever children from their daemons, she embarks on a journey to the Arctic accompanied by an armored polar bear warrior, a witch queen, and a Texan aeronaut played by Sam Elliott.
The film was surrounded by controversy โ the Catholic League organized a boycott over Pullman's anti-organized-religion themes, and New Line Cinema removed much of the novel's religious criticism from the screenplay. The visual effects, particularly the armored bears and the daemon animations, were impressive. The Golden Compass earned $372 million worldwide on a $180 million budget but the franchise was shelved until HBO's television adaptation His Dark Materials.
