BridgetotheStars.net community member Queste Oscure Materie report that an Italian VFX technician working on visual effects for The Golden Compass movie has disclosed that Ian McKellen will be providing the voice for Iorek Brynison. This part has previously been thought to be that of British actor Nonso Anozie.
QOM’s source also reports that the rumour which appeared on Christopher Lee’s official fansite regarding a possible cameo appearance by the veteran actor may well be true. The source writes, “[Lee] plays a member of the Magisterium: a grumpy man dressed in dark colours, whom we see sitting at a table with another character, whose daemon is a panther.”
Additionally, it is also reported that the final scenes in the film have been, at the request of the producers (rather than the director), significantly altered. This has, apparently, left post production teams running very late – meaning that they have to work flat out from now until the end of October.
Read the full story on Queste Oscure Materie here.
His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman has warned that encroaching development is threatening the existence of the Oxford that he loves. Continuing his campaign to save the Jericho boatyard in the city, Pullman attended a ceremony to rename a protestor’s boat “Lyra’s Defiance”. Speaking of the plans for redevelopment at the boatyard, Pullman remarked that, “Unfortunately I do think it is symptomatic of how Oxford as a whole is changing. The way the developers want to work is to make it like every other place in the world because it is cheaper and easier and quicker to build that way. But it is wrong for the face of Oxford, and it is wrong for the character of human beings. It must be resisted – and we will resist.” 
New Line will be unveiling a 
