The Golden Compass director Chris Weitz sends this message directly to all Sraffies
“Dear fans of His Dark Materials,
For the past three years I (and a gigantic cast and crew of fans of the books) have been working to adapt The Golden Compass (aka Northern Lights). As you can imagine, the process can be both exhausting and exhilarating, and full of both challenges and surprises. Sometimes you discover reasons to modify the chronology or narrative path of the books in a way that serves the movie and the trilogy better.
I have decided, along with Scholastic and New Line and, most importantly, Philip Pullman, to shift the concluding three chapters of Book I of His Dark Materials to the beginning of the second film of our trilogy, The Subtle Knife.
To me, this provides the most promising conclusion to the first film and the best possible beginning to the second.
It has always been my main concern to portray Lyra’s world and her adventures with integrity. Throughout this process I have been in close contact with Philip Pullman; and I would not be doing this without his approval. As Philip has said, His Dark Materials is not three stories but one story – the story of Lyra. And where we pause to take a breath in the telling of it is a matter of choice and taste. But I hope that when fans see the film they will find their fears put to rest and their hopes fulfilled. For the film to be judged on its own merits is all that I can ask for.
Many thanks for your time. I believe you will find The Golden Compass a fit tribute to His Dark Materials when it comes out in December; and in the meanwhile promise to work diligently on burnishing its details and providing a solid footing for the launch of The Subtle Knife.
Very Best
Chris Weitz”
Philip Pullman has responded with this message of his own:
“The ending makes every kind of narrative sense. The National Theatre production ended the first part plumb in the middle of The Subtle Knife, and nobody minded that because in the only terms that mattered it worked brilliantly. Every film has to make changes to the story that the original book tells – not to change the outcome, but to make it fit the dimensions and the medium of film. I’m very happy with the work the filmmakers have done, and no-one wants this film to succeed more, or believes in it more firmly, than I do.”
I hate this idea, I really, really hate it. I admit it might work perfectly and I will wait and see. But I cannot imagine that it will be a good improvement. There is just as much happening in the Subtle Knife as there is in Northern lights, if not more, so how in the world are they going to fit everything in, and what exactly will they have to cut to make this work?!
I’ll give it a chance but I do not like it at the moment, not even remotely.
no IT DOESENT flow better. if a person prefer the end as they are proposing to the ORIGINAL AND this person is a dumb. you wanna this end, in ballon, instead the original one?COME ONE.
please make the petition guys, we´ll can get MILIONS of signtures. im from brasil, we have communities here from fays, more than 3.000, they´ll sign come ON o//
no, it DOESNT flow better. so you are telling me that you prefer this end instead the ORIGINAL ONDE, with the bridge to the stars?WHERES the petition?;.;
the ending isn’t intact…they’ve taken the last three chapters and added them to the beginning of the second film. i sort of understand…the beginning of the subtle knife is quite slow, there’s not a lot of action to begin with, it’s Will and Lyra meeting, them in oxford etc so i can understand that the end of Northern Lights would make a better beginning to the Subtle Knife, they also don’t want to leave it on a cliff hanger, not know where lyra is etc. it means they don’t have to recap at the start of the second film, they can just carry straight on. i also think it will be nice to edit the two stories together smehow and then bring will and lyra together …show the two struggles of the two children as one story. i hope they leave the bit with will’s mum in tact though as that’s why the reader loves will initially.
i really don’t think it will be that bad!
voldy, hope this comment of you was true!! But no, they are doing the opposite, they are cutting the three final chapters of the book… so, no roger’s death, no northern lights, no city in the sky, not BRIDGE TO THE STARS!!ETC……
Voldy it’s the opposite! They are cutting the three final chapters of the golden compass to be in the begining of the subtle knife!
I am a little upset that the last 3 chapters of TGC won’t be shown in the movie, because they are some of my favortie, but what confuses me even more is that in the new trailer they have scense from the ending when Lord Asriel and Lyra cross into the new world. I also find it hard to believe that they are ending the movie at the scene where Serra says Lyra is important, consider that is before the fight between the two bears, when they are CLEARLY on the new posters, and their fighting scene has been included in ever trailer so far.
Argh, I’m so confused.
I think the ending would have been just fine if they would have had the last scene of Lyra walking into the new world, and then that be the end.
I understand what Pullman is saying but respectfully I don’t agree. The reason the Play worked split as it was into two parts and in the middle of The Subtle Knife was because it was performed as one big whole. Regardless of the fact the movies will be three parts of one story, they are still three separate movies and three separate acts.
The play was also, as far as my recollection goes, presented over two consecutive nights. The films will have to be split into three parts because of run times, and will likely be released about a year apart, even if they are filmed back to back ala Pirates Of The Caribbean, the last two films will be at least six months apart. To suggest that it doesn’t matter where each film ends because they are part of one big whole is frankly ridiculous. Each act of the story needs a conclusive close and something of a resolution, it doesn‘t matter if there is a cliff hanger but there need to be a sense that that particular act is over and the story is moving forward.
Like I said I will give it a chance, but I really hate the idea, and I really wish they would reconsider an idea that so many fans clearly dislike.
No, Voldy, that’s not what’s happening. Reread the announcement. The final three chapters of The Golden Compass are going to form a part of the Subtle Knife movie. In other words, the last three chapters, comprising Lyra and Roger’s meeting with Asriel, the major battle between the witches and Coulter’s forces, and the creation of the Bridge to the Stars, will not be in The Golden Compass, if Weitz’s statement about the final three chapters is correct.
I find this announcement really disappointing, because it’s such a perfect ending. Can’t you just imagine Lyra walking up the bridge into another world as the credits start to roll? It would be beautiful and poetic, and enticing for future installments. There really isn’t any other place the movie could end so beautifully.
Postponing the stuff with Asriel at the end also kind of kills the whole point of the movie. The reason for the journey, the reason for Lyra to do everything she did, ultimately turns out to have been in order to bring Roger to his death and to enable the creation of the bridge. Without that ending, the movie loses a kind of narrative sense; it simply goes unresolved, the forces that motivate it lacking conclusion.
I remain hopeful regarding the movie; I really want it to be good. But there is little news that I could find so unencouraging, and I can no longer say I’m optimistic.
-Paul
Though at first appaled, I have to agree that we´re giving way too much attention to the book. This is cinema, folks. What has good effect in literature can have no effect at all in cinema.
It´s best to watch the movie and see what the guys will pull (or hide) of their hats. You havent~s noticed, for instance, that this message means there´ll be two further films -most probably directed by Chris Weitz.
I´ll wait ’till December 25th in Brazil. Then I will speak a lot about the results, you may be sure.
Voldy: You have it the wrong way around. The end of TGC is being added to the start of the TSK. It’s true that nothing’s being taken away from the story as a whole, but TGC is having a bit chopped out of itself. There’s no material from TSK in TGC.
http://www.petitiononline.com/petition.html
someone make a GOOD text for this, my english is not quite good.
Voldy, I’m sure we would all be thrilled if that were the case, but the statement from Weitz clearly states that the last three chapters of TGC will not be in the first movie, but be shifted to the beginning of the second movie. That’s why we are so worried.
Here is a link to the new petition to New Line:
http://www.petitiononline.com/gc1003/petition.html
Please sign, leave a comment, and invite as many people as possible to take part!
Here is a link to a petition to New Line:
http://www.petitiononline.com/gc1003/petition.html
Please sign, leave a comment, and invite as many people as possible!!
Voldy: I hate to break it to you, but you need to freshen up on your reading comprehension skills.
Chris Weitz, Newline, and PP have decided to “shift the concluding three chapters of Book I of His Dark Materials to the beginning of the second film of our trilogy, The Subtle Knife.”
This means no Aurora or bridge to the stars until the beginning of TSK movie, and who knows when or if it will ever come out.
This is good news and bad news in my opinion. It shows that New Line is dedicated to filming the entire trilogy. It is bad news because the actual story will suffer and the final scenes of TGC won’t be as exciting if they are placed at the beginning of TSK, especially if it is after a 2-3 year wait.
I think this will make TSK a better movie, and I agree with the earlier posters that rescuing Lyra from the cave and her dreams of the land of dead should be squeezed into the end of TSK movie.
Do we have any word on how official this all is?
Pingback: Yatterings » Disappearances of Golden Compass endings and Oxford
Pingback: Waiting for Lyra: Stoking Up Controversies « educating alice
Most of you are completely wrong. The whole idea of moving the ending is not showing that they really want to make TSK, but that they want an out just in case they don’t do well at the box office. If you think about it, when thee story would end with Lyra walking up the bridge to the stars they would have to include the words “To Be Continued…” which forces them to make the next movie. However if it ends with everybody safe after the bear fight then it can end like a normal film and there is no need for any promises.
This makes me think there no longer confident in the film.
Voldy, that’s the opposite of what they’re doing – they’re LOSING the ending of TGC and ADDING it to TSK, whenever that comes out.
http://www.petitiononline.com/hdm1jwm9/petition.html
SIGN PEOPLE.
http://www.petitiononline.com/hdm1jwm9/petition.html
come on people sign, for naw 33 people have signed!!
Voldy, viewers would’ve far too dumb to confuse things. If they keep the ending of TGC and the beginnig of TSK separated, it’ll be far to better. They MAYBE could alter it if they don’t introduced Will’s story on the first movie. Now that I realize it, Weitz even said that he wanted to have Will and Lyra’s story separated until it would be necessary to join them…
please help preserve the ending to the movie…
http://www.petitiononline.com/gc1003/petition.html
thanks to everyone who has signed the petition so far!
so now we have this petition avobe and this:
http://www.petitiononline.com/hdm1jwm9/petition.html
COME ON, VOTE PEOPLE!
geek its completely right. the end as the book its better and this way we have the “to be continued”. they will only make the tsk if does well in boxoffice. this change its TERRIBLE.
people, send the petition to foreing websites. im from brasil and here i already send it to the orkut base of fans and the sites, ok?lets GO.
i am deeply disappointed in you Philip Pullman for deserting your readers and fans and changing the story line for the movie. i think taking out the religion in the movie which is a key factor of the plot of the book is wrong. i don’t think it should even be said it’s based on the book “NORTHERN LIGHTS”, you have diappointed and deserted us; your british readers once again for even approving the title “The Golden Compass” for the movie. i mean collapsing under the pressure of removing an essential plot; ie, the religion is appalling. What! are the names of the sequels going to be; “The Golden Compass 2 and 3”, i don’t think so, i wouldn’t go and see it. Look and Follow the example of J.K. Rowling!!!
Melodrama again.
John is another one who needs a bit of comprehension skills himself. Pullman is not the screenwriter, child: he has just approved the way Weitz -the guy who adapted the thing into the screen, making little cartoon pictures which are called storyboards- did alter the story.
You guys need to wait, don´t ya?
If they destroy their own film, then they´re going to be way much more screwed up than us readers. Jeez, you love to feel it´s all about yourselves and the readership of the books.
This is also business, in case you havent´s noticed yet.
Subtle Knife is going to be a HUGE movie. It was the smallest book, but you just know now that they’ve lopped off the ending of Golden Compass to save it for the second movie, they’ll do the same with the beginning of the Amber Spyglass.
I don’t care what anyone else says on this matter anymore, I won’t be going to see the film I have been waiting years to see.
And I’m more than happy to sign a petition to ensure this does not happen.
I STILL CANT BELEIVE THEYVE DONE THIS THEYVE GOT A WHOLE 2 MONTHS !!!!!!!!! WORK A COUPLE OF EXTRA HOURS BADABING BADABOOM WHEY last 3 CHAPTERS!!!!!!!
I think the Subtle Knife should start with Will. And when he meets Lyra, she could have a personal 10 minute flashback of the end. The she snaps out of it and tells Will the way she got there (Ex.) ” Dunno. I just stepped through some window and now I’m here.” Like in LOTR how Gandalf tells frodo how he escaped from Isengard. I don’t think I’ll like the beginning of The Subtle Knife if it doesn’t start with Will.It would be a weird beginning if it started off with Lord Asriel and Roger dying.
I meant Lyra meeting Lord Asrier and Roger dying.
in this age of market segmentation, why not propose two alternate versions of the movie? One for the stuck-in-the Middle-Ages-religion-crazed US and one for the civilized world ? surely in the hands of a Marketing guru, one could exploit this to no-end. Think of 2 DVD releases, one ‘angelic’, containing the toned-down version and one along the lines of ‘rent the DVD, buy a ticket to Hell’ kind of a spin on it.
HELLO, Everybody lets calm down, the producers and directors are professionals and know what they are doing. Lets just wait to see the movie and then make our comments, it makes sense to me. So what if Roger does not die, it makes it more interesting. So what if Daniel does not Kiss nicole big deal, the story has a twist to it and become more adventurous. I am sure this film will knock the socks off us all, keep the faith.
Soooooooooooo whaaaaat if the Golden Compass movie isn’t exactly like the book, and if it isn’t as epic. It’s not like the footage will disappear! Honestly, the studio probably doesn’t want a three hour long movie followed by a one hour movie!!!! I’m sure they just expanded the awesome plot to make it more enjoyable for you. And with the plot expanded, they dont want to add more footage to make the three movies uneven times. They make these good decisions aaallll just for you people, and most of you complain. Just wait for the movie, and I’m sure you’ll be satisfied (which is reasurred by Cris Weitz and Philip Pullman himself)!!!!!
STOP this stupid petition and wait for the most-probably-awesome movie to come out!!!!!
Anyone who STILL thinks that this is going to suck, after the AUTHOR said it won’t, is being a total jerk about this whole ordeal!!!!!!!!
I am glade to see someone else with some common sense, I am sure that no-one will be disappointed. It would be nice to see more about lyra and Roger in the media especially as they supposed to be best friends, the film company should be pushing this.
I am curious how much more it would cost (and delay) it would take for the proper ending to be provided to the first movie.
They have ruined me this film, I have waited years to see this, and now…Definetely I won’t see this….
Well maybe in a pirate copy!! It’s what New Line deserves…
Yes, yes, yes, I’m sorry, I misread it. I was about to leave, so I quickly tried to read it, and indeed, I did misread it. I do not have deficiency in reading comprehension skills, it was a simple mistake, as I am human.
Anyway, I wish what I thought was the truth *was* the truth. XD This seems like a strange choice to make for the ending of the film….I’m quite anxious and apprehensive now. But I guess if Pullman has faith in them, then my faith should lie in them as well. Hopefully the movie will still be excellent, even with the changed ending. HOPEFULLY. *sighs*
I guess as long as they don’t CHANGE the ending, and I don’t go insane before The Subtle Knife comes out, I’m okay.
So are they cutting the last three chapters? or is it 4…?
Also if they’re cutting them, why do they insist on torturing us by putting clips from those scenes in TGC previews?! (even the new one)
I can understand why people are so confused and angry over this decision, and for the past 2 hours I have been reaaaallly angry and absolutely bewildered on why these people are ruining my all time favourite books!
It’s an ending like no other, to me it’s the best bit of the book!! I was outraged, but then I started thinking…have I seen it yet? Yeah ive read the book, all of them, but movies are different than books.
It might be the best thing for it, but then again it might not. Either way I’m the first one there at the opening night! And don’t say you wont be there too.
I dont like how all these people are saying that Chris Weiz is an idiot, he’s actually putting everything into making these movies for us all so we should appreciate him!! Remember, he’s as much of a fan of the books as we are.
I’m quite sceptical about the decision, but I am having faith and still cant wait to see it. Chris Weiz was really brave to tell us all like that and I would like to thank him for all his hard work! The movie looks exactly how I dreamed it would.
Voldy, they’re not ending the movie with the beginning of the Subtle Knife (I wish), but rather before Lyra meets Asriel again in the North and before Roger dies.
I think this is a very bad decision and it reeks with corporate interference. I think New Line’s just trying to play it safe but too safe is bad for viewers. This is not a kid’s story, at least not in the traditional sense, but they keep trying to put it in this box.
I’m very sad because it was looking like the movie might actually be good. oh well
that makes no sense, leave it to hollywood to ruin a good series. hopefully pullman knows what he’s doing.
i’m in on that petition idea.
This announcement makes me very sad. I don’t know what to say. It feels like my favorite story in the entire literary world is being demolished. If this is due to Hollywood’s unending thirst for money then I am ashamed of the producer’s. Hopefully, and it looks like there is little hope in this situation, the director will either change back the ending after viewing upset fans responses or will surprise us in an unexpected way by adding something that will make everyone happy. Chris, don’t let me down!