I just saw that Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials fantasy trilogy is going to be adapted to a series for BBC television.
I’m pretty happy to hear it. I read the novels about 10 years ago. I liked The Golden Compass movie adaptation and was disappointed that it wasn’t successful enough to warrant filming the sequels. A TV adaptation won’t have the budget that the movie did, so the visual effects may not be as good, but I think having more time for the story and characters to develop and breathe will be a great benefit.
Not much information that I could find about what the production will be like. One season covering the whole trilogy? Multiple seasons?
They haven’t cast anyone yet, so it’ll be a while before we see anything. Production will be in Wales.
Speaking of casting… anyone want to throw out some names–a wish list? The Golden Compass movie had some pretty great casting, though Daniel Craig didn’t fit my image of Lord Asriel very well.
I recently watched the new adaptation of Poldark, and I could see the actress who plays Demelza as Serefina Pekkela. She has an ethereal beauty. Or Sibel Kekilli (Shae on Game of Thrones) for a ‘darker’ look.
I don’t think you can beat the movie’s casting of Sam Elliot as Lee Scoresby, but I’d like to see a Texan in the role. Kris Kristofferson would be cool.
Yeah–I hope they adjust the focus of the story. Keep the “I Hate God/Religion” message*–it’s an integral part of the story and Pullman’s atheism informs the entire book, but keep the camera on Lyra and…whatshisname…Will rather than the huge focus on the GAWD IS EVIL thing that brought the books to a halt. Don’t cut it, just spend a lot less time on the neverending rants and more time on the characters.
I also hope they tweak the second book’s story just a bit. I don’t like how Lyra went from one of the strongest female protagonists in a Juvie Novel in the first book to a simpering wimp in the second one.
*Pullman has been very clear that this is his belief system.
Here’s the point- Book 1 was wonderful, full of flying witches, armoured polar bears, airships, and those cool dæmons, something every kid wants. But they already did that film. The stupid “Religion is Eviiiiil” theme was an undercurrent.
Book 2 is just dark and boring. The preaching is loud and annoying. Book 3 is worse.
Almost 4 years since we heard about it, but it’s almost here!
Turns out that the part went to Lin-Manuel Miranda; trailer here.
It looks freaking fantastic!
I have not (and likely will not) see Hamilton, so I’m not really familiar with Mr. Miranda’s acting ability, but I’ll give him a chance since everything else seems amazing. Plus, he was apparently really into the source material:
Unfortunately:
Still, I’m actually optimistic that they’re going to do the books justice, so that we can all finally say, with conviction, “what movie?”
Thanks for the update, Snowboarder Bo! I had forgotten that I started this thread, but I have been following the recent news and trailers for this as they have come out.
This is now an HBO/BBC co-production. A second season has already been greenlit prior to the release of season 1. Looks like each season will be eight episodes. I haven’t found any information about how much of the books will be covered each season. From the wikipedia page: “In an interview, director Otto Bathurst said that there will be some changes to the series compared to the book and the film adaptation. He said that they are giving it a little twist and are modernizing it so that it departs from the original’s Victoriana fantasy.” Not sure what that means, exactly, with regard to ‘modernizing’ it.
Regarding casting:
Lyra: Dafne Keen - this is the girl who played the young mutant Laura in Logan (the last Wolverine movie with Hugh Jackman). She was great in that so I am hopeful about her casting here.
Ms. Coulter: Ruth Wilson - I’m not familiar with her other than a small role in Saving Mr. Banks
Lord Asriel: James McAvoy - I like him, he’s a good actor though he can go over-the-top sometimes.
Lee Scoresby: Lin-Manuel Miranda - totally doesn’t fit my image of Scoresby, but I’ll keep an open mind. The most I’ve seen of him is in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm playing himself.
Serafina Pekkala: Ruta Gedmintas - I liked her in The Strain, she could be good here, too.
The trailers look great! I am excited about this and hope it is good and that they are able to tell the entire story.
If you are curious about how great Ruth Wilson is as an actress, she produced and starred in a little mini-series called Mrs Wilson, and the surname is not a coincidence as she plays her very own real-life grandmother. It’s all about a woman whose husband dies and the subsequent shocking things she learns about him that he was keeping from her. It’s a mesmerising performance by Ruth.
I thought it was a very good start. It’s been too long since I read the books, so I don’t recall anything significant being omitted. The cast is great–especially Dafne Keen as the bright-but-brash Lyra and Ruth Wilson as Ms. Coulter. The visuals are good. The daemons look great for the most part. I did find it a bit tough to recognize sometimes when a daemon was speaking that the voice was coming from the daemon and not from one of the people nearby.
I’m looking forward to next week’s episode. The ad showing scenes “coming this season” looks very promising.
I haven’t read the books, but I’m impressed by the first episode. Certainly makes a change from the usual Sunday evening fare on BBC1 (Antiques Roadshow - that must have confused a few folk who just switched on without checking).
I thought the second episode was better than the first. I read the books a long time ago, but I thought it felt like the first episode might be a little confusing without all the book exposition. I guess alternate worlds are pretty standard fare now though.
The second episode introduces the alternate worlds theme a little more - and I think it’s in the other alternate world we‘ll see all the updating and modernising. Lyra’s world seems steeped in the Victorian’s/Edwardiana I’d expect - although thinking about it, maybe it’s the costume design, but it actually feels maybe a bit more 1930s. Which would make sense with the totalitarian theme of the Magisterium and all that.
OB
ETA: has this started showing on HBO yet? Thought there’d be a little more interest on the board.
