The books are getting the adaptation they deserve.
As soon as the
His Dark Materials TV adaptation was announced, our mood was a mix of giddy excitement and quiet caution because as fans of Phillip Pullman's beloved trilogy of books will know, the film adaptation of The Golden Compass was an absolute mess.
To begin with, the film bowed to studio pressure to remove any anti-religious sentiments from the script - an incredible decision given the core subject matter of the books focuses on tyrannical rule of The Magisterium. In fact, Chris Weitz (writer/director) has previously said that he was told to remove any mention of 'sin' from the final script.
By doing so, the movie spectacularly missed the point of the source material because separating the philosophical ideas from His Dark Materials is like separating a child from their Dæmon.
Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman and Sam Elliot were well cast, but the pressure to edit the film into a smaller running order, combined with the decision to remove all mentions of religion, resulted in a crushing disappointment for fans of the books.
This being said, we've got high hopes for this TV adaptation because if it's done right, it could rival the scope of shows like Game of Thrones.
To begin with, the
decisions to cast James McAvoy (X-Men: First Class) as Lord Asriel, Dafne Keen (Logan) as Lyra, and Ruth Wilson (Luther) as the villainous Miss Coulter are inspired.
On this note, director Otto Bathurst (Robin Hood, Peaky Blinders) was discussing his work on the His Dark Materials TV show and revealed that the first season will be eight hours long and it will cover the entire events that unfold in the first book, Northern Lights.
"We're in the middle of shooting and editing at the same time. It's a really, really exciting project with BBC and HBO," Bathurst told
Collider.
"They're going for it big time. What's exciting about it is that they're giving it the space. We're spending eight hours on just the first book for the first season. The second season will deal with the second book. We've got the space to tell the story with the same depth and magic that Phillip Pullman did."
This could be very, very special.
