Ain't It Cool News' Moriarty has a thoughtful look at The Golden Compass movie, reporting on last week's set visit. Ruminating on whether New Line can market the film, he says, “I�m just not sure I see this dense metaphysical fantasy story that is about the nature of free will and the value of our souls as something that any studio can sell to the public in thirty seconds.” Collider also have a report up now too; whilst Canmag continue their series on separate topics too (scroll down). About.com have also been putting their writings online.
Scifi.com have also added their report.
HDM…unmarketable…?
Are they dense?
-religion
-bestseller
Need I go on?
-Coming of age story
-Sci-fi
Not convincing enough?
-Daniel Craig AND Nicole Kidman
-Futuristic
-Action-packed
-From the studio that brought you Lord of the Rings
God, I thought Aint It Cool was smart!
pah !! such an insult !!
I find it funny to have him "pounce" on other people to try and explain these books when he does a very lousy job of it himself. There's a lot of sentences in there that just make me shake my head and wonder if he actually understood what it is he is trying to say.
BUT, what I do gather from this is that at least there is a LOT of love and devotion from Weitz and crew going into this production. That is very good news; to me, and to all the other fans out there, I'm sure. Next year he will have his answer, but by golly I'll be doing my darndest to prove him wrong!
To be fair, the aintitcoolnews, although cynical, was from someone who evidently wanted the film to actually do well, but feared it wouldn't. And to be fair, I'm anxious too.
What I do have a problem with is the Collider article; it's badly written (riddled with grammar and spelling mistakes), the author calls Iorek a bear daemon, and it has completely unnecessary use of bad language. Don't bother reading that article.
I'm really worried that this upcoming film won't be any good, too. 🙁
The Ain't it Cool article is very interesting. I have to say I agree with a lot of what the writer has to say. As much as I want the film to do well, and even though it is in capable hands, I'm still wondering what the draw will be for those not in the fan base, which, if it is to succeed, really needs if it will pull in the big bucks. I think it may do as well as the first Narnia film, and I doubt if it will rival the Potter franchise. But maybe I will be pleasantly surprised. Craig and Kidman will definitely add some weight to it. I just hope they don't try to go after the kid market too much. I hope it retains its dark feel and subject matter. Parents may see the trailer and think: "Oh, it's a movie with talking animals, little Timmy might like this," and then be surprised by its anti-religous tone.
Time will tell. But don't get me wrong, I want the film to be a smashing success, I just fear for it.
:laughing:
Do you really think so, Alewyn? Aint It Cool has the best set visit article to date. It's thoughtful, articulate and almost poignant. The journalist wasn't wrong when he said fans have an evangelical attachment to these books :tongue:. His fears are completely valid and he is clearly rooting for this movie all the way.
So what we learned from this:
He thinks Kidman has created a villian for the ages (YAY!)
He worries about it's success.
He thinks the movie is in good hands.
So although I wish he were more optomistic(sp?) his words make me believe the movie will at least be good and the actors involved will more then do their characters justice. This isn't all bad news, people.
What New Line should do is get a trailer attached to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I can't think of a better movie to attach it to; you know you're reaching the right people with that probable blockbuster.
I think there probably will be a trailer to Harry Potter, but I think we may get a short teaser sometime soon. Maybe sometime in March or April. New Line has done well with setting up a website and giving us plenty of stills so soon.
Why would this article worry you guys?!?! Seems kind of silly to me.
I mean he said every one is acting great, that the movie is in the right hands, and that everyone working on the film truly loves HDM.
And to those insulted(?) by what he said:
He obviously was a huge fan of the books. Wanted the movie to be a success, but was worried that it wouldn't sell well b/c the general public "could not wrap their heads" around a movie with such big complex ideas… "Insult"? Take it any way you want that’s a compliment to me.
While I don't think it's as big a issue as he thinks it is. I do see where he is coming from. For example the film Minority Report, Action, SC-FI, Directed by Spielberg, with lead Tom Cruise, was hailed as a master piece by critics but barley made a dime in the box-office.
I like the Ain't It Cool article. Very smart, very articulate, and he voiced a real concern. (And I'm not just talking about the evangelical nature of the fanbase.)
But I'd like to just say… John Huston's 'The Man That Would Be King' had enormous production values and was a total flop when it opened, thirty years ago. Now it is widely recognized as one of the greatest films ever made.
Just saying.
If The Golden Compass flops now and is considered a masterpiece 50 years from now it would do us no good since it still means we won't see the next two.
And I'm not quite sure how anyone can be upset about this article at all. He has no cause to be more optimistic than he is being. I actually think he is the most impressed and involved out of all the reporters, including the main HDM fansite reps. :tongue:
I agree that Moriarty's article is extremely competent (as is the guy himself, knowing quite a few of his articles), even though I don't share his scepticism concerning the financial lookout for TGC.
First of all, TGC is going to be the only movie that might be categorized fantasy-adventure in the US market in the relevant time frame (early december). Competition might arise from that new Will Smith horror / sci-fi movie opening a week later, but that one doesn't sound very much like PG-13 to me (more likely R-rated), so it'll be out of bounds for teenagers. And National Treasure 2 opens a full two weeks after TGC, which should be sufficient for TGC to cash in nicely on the US market. (As no other studio has put up significant competition, that probably means they, too, believe in TGC's box office potential.)
Secondly, even if there is loud crying from the religious right in the US, that will merely result in two things: Instead of the religious people in the US, the more liberal half of America will be more motivated to go see it, and overseas, e.g. in Europe (a market that tends to be forgotten by people in the US, but that is large in combined scope), films that are loudly criticized for their attitude towards religion in the US tend to do well (cf. Da Vinci Code). So religious leaders damning it will only cause additional publicity, which is good.
CONTINUED:
Thirdly, unlike Eragon last year, this movie will not stink, and positive critics might give it an additional push.
And finally, yes, I do believe New Line must make sure to get a TGC trailer attached to the new Harry Potter (which is released by Warner Bros. that belongs to Time Warner, just as New Line does, so that deal should be easily done). And they should make it in a rather dark tone, similar to the latest Harry Potter trailer. This sould raise awareness in the target group to the heavens.
Considering all that (and I've not said a word on DVD sales which are even more important than box office takes today), I am very confident that New Line will earn a nice amount of money, and that we will finally come to see the next two movies.