The Republic of Heaven

Does anyone know... do New Line still own the film rights to the Dark Materials trilogy? And if they do has anyone heard any up to date information on what they intend to do with them?

Now that the dust (no pun intended) has settled on New Line's disastrous attempt to film Northern Lights (oops... Golden Compass for US readers) shouldn't they be pressured into giving up those rights so that someone else can have a go at it?

I'm thinking that, with the Harry Potter franchise coming to an end, there may be a 'gap' in the market for something to follow it. Whatever you think about the HP films, the final two did establish a precedent for dark (oops yet another non-intended pun) and serious issues to be played out in a movie derived from an ostensibly children's book.

Perhaps Warner Bros should take over the HDM franchise. With all of those HP actors (and I don't necessarily mean Messrs Radcliffe, Grint and Watson) now sort of out of a job and studio space at Leavesden available - plus all of the special effects expertise gained on making the movies, it seems a natural progression for me... provided of course Philip Pullman gets the same editorial clout that JK Rowling had and makes use of it.

I also think that, having dealt with all of the religious hysteria over Harry Potter in some quarters, especially in the US, Warner Bros would also be well placed to deal with similar religious intolerance over HDM and have the courage to ignore it and make the real film of the book.

I've no idea who might play what or who should script the project but HDM is too good a tale to miss out on a sympathetic and authentic retelling on film.

Hate to burst your bubble but Warner Bros does now own the rights. No they're unlikely to do anything with them.

New Line paid the price for interfering with the movie, the company doesn't really exsit now. It's was merged with Warner Bros after TGC wasn't the run away sucssess they had gambled.

No one is going to touch the movie for a while as the distribution rights for anywhere apart from the US were sold in another wonderful move by New Line. (Heck if they didn't do that we would have had the Subtle Knife on film by now) That means if anyone makes a Golden Compass / Northern Lights / Subtle Knife / Amber Spyglass movie with full rights they can only sell it in the US. Other companies take over legal right anywhere else....

Sad really - this also explains why they haven't done a directors cut - it would cost too much for only a US market.

Someday, years down the line, they'll reboot the series and possibly do a director's cut (by then, the cost for visual effects will have gone down).