The Golden Compass, this holiday season’s big movie release, is due out next Friday, and there are a couple interesting articles about the film already out — both of them mainly about the mid-level controversy surrounding the film (and Philip Pullman’s books) manufactured by crackpot Catholics with nothing better to do than tell people how to think. But I digress.
First up is Newsweek’s surprisingly informative and revealing interview with director Chris Weitz:
Pullman was instrumental in luring Weitz back to the movie. After a second director came and went, he sent Weitz a handwritten letter, urging him to reconsider. An apparatus had sprung up around the film since Weitz had left: blueprints for a lavish production design by Oscar winner Dennis Gassner (”The Truman Show”), a coherent visual-effects strategy and a theatrical release date. “It suddenly seemed possible,” Weitz says. His fears didn’t vanish, but his years away from the film, during which he met his future wife, helped put matters in perspective. The couple had their first child, a boy, in June. “I find it easier to not worry so much. That’s got to be age. Mellowing. A lot of therapy.”
Publishers Weekly covers the Newsweek article and and couple other interesting tidbits.
While the row rages in the court of public opinion, New Line is facing another Compass headache in federal court. On November 15, New Line filed suit in Brooklyn, N.Y. against Koch Entertainment and other defendants, alleging that Koch’s planned DVD release of a documentary called Beyond the Golden Compass: The Magic of Philip Pullman infringes on the New Line film’s copyright. According to an article in the Hollywood Reporter, New Line asserts that Koch aims to “capitalize on the massive publicity and promotional effort attendant to the upcoming release of the plaintiff’s filmâ€? and is seeking more than $10 million in damages. A ruling has not been issued to date.
