Comments on: Box Office: Golden Compass disaster! Juno a record-breaker!

By: Golden Compass - Nothing to Worry About « The Peregrin Pages

Golden Compass - Nothing to Worry About « The Peregrin Pages — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:26:24 +0000

[...] of protest, etc.Â Perhaps it worked.Â Â Â After all, the $200 million dollar film turned out to be a box office stinker, and only brought in an embarassing $27 million on its opening [...]

By: JABbering Stooge :: We’re Number 9! We’re Number 9! :: April :: 2008

JABbering Stooge :: We’re Number 9! We’re Number 9! :: April :: 2008 — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:07:06 +0000

[...] that weekend. And speaking of which, did you notice at the time how the “librul” media was gleefully crowing about the failure of the movie? If The Golden Compass was a bomb, then Expelled is a Daisy [...]

By: Grumman

Grumman — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:05:05 +0000

New Line executives are to blame for this flop. They washed down the story from its original context, fearing the wrath of the religious people, which they got nevertheless, and simultaneously they enraged the fans of the story, which were the natural audience for it. Then they cut the ending of the book, leaving the story lame. They literally shot their own foot.

On the other hand, maybe this story wasn’t meant for a commercialy oriented film.

By: Stanton

Stanton — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 01:15:32 +0000

I agree with Frank. People should be able to decide their entire lives which “beliefs” they have, because beliefs actually should come from one’s self rather than someone trying to instill them in you. I’m not sure the appropriate age that someone should be before they can decide for themselves, but I don’t believe they should be pushed into something they don’t choose for themselves.

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:58:55 +0000

in my opinion a 13 year old child (or older) should be allowed to decide for himself whether he/she wants to see a movie with a critical view on their beliefs. Trying to “instill a belief” is the wrong thing to do in the first place.

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:06:05 +0000

Stanton,

Uhhh… I think maybe Mary was being “sarcastical”…

I’m a Christian, and I do have a personal issue with a movie based on a “children’s book” that attempts to “undermine the basis of Christian belief”, according to Pullman. Now, I have no desire to ban or otherwise censor anyone. However, I think parents should have the right to have all the information about a movie available to them, especially if there is one that might be counter to the belief system they are trying to instill in their kids. I have no problem at all with atheist parents getting information beforehand that Narnia is based on Christian books, and keeping their kids away.

Ultimately, the marketplace will decide.

By: Stanton

Stanton — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 08:01:02 +0000

ORIGINAL QUOTE:

“Mary McKenna Says:
December 10th, 2007 at 8:19 am

It doesnâ€™t matter how good â€œThe Golden Compassâ€ is, in fact it could technically be the best movie and most interesting story of all time, but as long as it defies our church it needs to be stamped out! Free speech goes too far when a movie is allowed to question the church, The Golden Compass should have been banned and every single copy destroyed. Only movies that meet our churches standards should be allowed to be released or talked about, because people talking about a movie that is against our church is just as bad as people watching it.

So make sure you do not watch The Golden Compass, it goes too far for even suggesting that people question the church and our god. It should be banned forever and Philip Pullman should be thrown in jail.”

Mary, I hate to say it, but you should not be an American citizen if you think like this. You think we should ban something because it questions the church? I hope you realize faith is just something for people to believe in. It’s an excuse to live, it gives us some sort of motive, and answer to why we should stay alive. It keeps you content with your life. If you think people should not be allowed to talk about going against a god, then I just don’t understand what puritanical beliefs you have. I’m agnostic, I’m alive right now, and I’m going to die, just like you. You don’t need to worry about this. If people watch it and decide to let a fantasy influence them enough to rebel against religion, then so be it, it’ll make more room for you in your heaven.

Free speech is one of the most important rights we have in America, and if you think this movie passes the line of free speech, then perhaps you shouldn’t have any other rights you should enjoy..

Chronicles of Narnia books are wonderful, they are completely and utterly all about God and Christianity, but I don’t tell people they should never read the books or see the movies. I wish that one day you’ll realize it isn’t good to think like that. Let people think for themselves, instead of ignoring other possibilities and being stubborn, for fear of actually being convinced enough to think for yourself.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 12:40:31 +0000

I’ve seen the movie last night, and I fully enjoyed it. Contrary to what I had read before in other places, the story was easy to follow, it made sense for a fantasy movie. The effects were some of the best I’ve seen (and I’ve seen a lot!). Lyra, the main character, was a nice departure from the typical kid actors, with her being upfront about things, and brave, and, above all, quite sassy.
I am not a religious person, but having read beforehand about how the movie “defies” the church, I must say: sorry, but I just didn’t see the connection. As far as I could tell, there is absolutely nothing religious in the movie. It’s just an organization that “rules” its people and tells them what to do and what to not do. I see more parallels to a political dictatorship than the church.
Then again, I’ve read none of the books, so the real ‘religion bashing’ might come just later on.

I’m a sucker for series, so I really hope there will be some form of sequel. If this was the introduction of characters (which often is done in the first book of a series), then I can’t imagine the amazing stuff that is to follow.

PS: If you find spelling errors, you can keep’em :D

By: The Loki Myth

The Loki Myth — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 21:54:42 +0000

After reading the books just a week ago, with them fresh in my mind. It is quite a disapointment. New line has no balls left. The move should have been at least 2 and a half hours long for the first book. insted it was cut up so badly, that if you havn’t read the book, you wont understand it right. What a waisted opertunity!

By: We Should Live - Ben Bateman » News Shocker: American Avoid the Viciously Anti-Catholic Golden Compass

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:06:21 +0000

[...] it on track to lose some serious money over its entire run. At least one industry watcher has commented that its poor opening, combined with a crowded roster of opening movies, puts it at risk of being [...]

By: Yuriko

Yuriko — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 14:53:26 +0000

It was disappointing…

Pullman even claims LOTR wasn’t as good as what he can come up.

It’s funny cos his books wasn’t as great as LOTR.

All the more the movie was crap.

Stick to “your precious”.

By: The Latest Premieres & Debuts » Box Office: Golden Compass disaster! Juno a record-breaker!

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:22:10 +0000

[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptNew Lineâ€™s The Golden Compass, which has a reported budget of $200M+, has staggered out of the starting gate with an opening day of $9M or so, and it will likely muster only an estimated $27M for the weekend. In the realm of big budget, … [...]

By: Golden Compass Looks Like a Flop | MichaelGorman.net

Golden Compass Looks Like a Flop | MichaelGorman.net — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:34:07 +0000

[...] this weekend and given the numbers showing up at Box Office Mojo and the latest posts at /Film (#1 and #2) the future of the Dark Materials trilogy on film does not look good. The future of New Line [...]

By: Amanda

Amanda — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:54:38 +0000

People keep complaining that the characters are flat, distant, and cold, but that is how it is in the book! Unless you want the movie to radically change up the characters, there was nothing the director could do about that. If the movie had changed the characters to make them likable, people would be complaining about that! The movie just can’t win. So, quit complaining about the characters.

By: Mary McKenna

Mary McKenna — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:19:39 +0000

It doesn’t matter how good “The Golden Compass” is, in fact it could technically be the best movie and most interesting story of all time, but as long as it defies our church it needs to be stamped out! Free speech goes too far when a movie is allowed to question the church, The Golden Compass should have been banned and every single copy destroyed. Only movies that meet our churches standards should be allowed to be released or talked about, because people talking about a movie that is against our church is just as bad as people watching it.

By: David

David — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:57:22 +0000

Don’t know why comments point out only Catholics as the critics of The Golden Compass. In fact down here in South America they haven’t even touched on the subject (mainly because they know people won’t give crap about what they say).

It’s the large American Protestantism (evangelics, etc. etc.) that drive people off the cinema. Catholics are still a minority there. Just wait till Mexicans take over though, LOL.

Cheers,
David

By: Peter Sciretta

Peter Sciretta — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:13:30 +0000

Plus I just learned that New Line sold the international distribution rights for who knows how much. But what this means is that the internetaional numbers don’t mean as much as the domestic to the studio.

By: Peter Sciretta

Peter Sciretta — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:09:59 +0000

Diglot,

People don’t seem to understand where the money goes. For instance: New Line is claiming 200 million budget, but industry insiders say its higher. around $250 million. Okay, now the marketing, press, and advertising for this movie was huge. Add $60-$80 in P&A and we got a total investment of over $315 million. Movie theaters keep roughly 50% of the ticket price, so a movie that cost $300 million needs to make at least $630 million worldwide after home video to break even. Also note that the studio is not happy with breaking even. Superman Returns more than broke even, but Warner Bros is still iffy on a sequel.

By: Diglot

Diglot — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:46:42 +0000

Sorry to disappoint the religious crowd but the movie actually grossed nearly half its cost worldwide on its first weekend!

By: sceptic

sceptic — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:37:57 +0000

A bit premature in crowing failure I think.

CNN says it is NUMBER ONE at the BOX OFFFICE, 26 million