In an interview with Philip Pullman in the Oxford Times to coincide with the new run of the His Dark Materials stage play, Pullman discusses the representation of Oxford in the books and the play. “Oxford does feature in many works of literature, starting, I suppose, with Alice in Wonderland. I’m happy to be putting my little contribution into the myth of Oxford. … It’s just a habit of thought, I suppose, a way of looking at things I’ve always had. Sunderland Avenue, between the Banbury Road and Woodstock Road roundabouts, has always fascinated me because the hornbeam trees there are so peculiar.”
Pullman also talks about the Birmingham Repertory Theatre production, and makes a new suggestion on the reason for the apparent decision not to produce sequels to the film version of the books, saying “It’s a great shame that it looks as if the films of the two later books won’t now be made, as a result of the credit crunch.”
You have to wonder if he’s refusing to admit the facts when he uses a new excuse for the sequels not being made every week!
i don’t think it’s a particularly new excuse. the impending financial crisis was cited in the downfall of new line also kinder.
I think there were a number of reasons that the sequels are not being made – cost of production, the economy, the lower than anticipated box office in the US, selling the international rights(where the film performed wonderfully), the religious lobby, etc. After all, big budget major studio films are produced to make money, not for artistic purposes.
‘When I was thinking of writing this big fantasy, I thought, “How can I justify it to myself, morally?”…If I don’t find a way of connecting it to our lives, if I don’t find a way of saying something about what it means to be a human being, then I shall waste seven years on something frivolous.’
‘…one of my conscious intentions in writing His Dark Materials was to do a story about children that would not be in the least sentimental, that would show what children really want, which is not to go backwards, but to go forwards – children want to be grown up.’
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/features/Philip-Pullman-interview-.5204531.jp
Her Highness Serafina speaks sooth: “the lower than anticipated box office in the US” indeed.
Sez here (@ IMDB) that US gross = $70m, on a production cost of $180m. (That’s a LOT of loss for teh world revenue to have to make up for.)
The only “credit crunch”es here are the movie’s, and Mr Pullman’s.
Such a shame — a brilliant set of books, and in the proper hands, would have been a brilliant set of movies.
Well, at least the movies in our heads, as we re-read the books, will still be playing beautifully, forever.
Joy to all…