The Golden Compass (2007)

In a parallel universe, young Lyra Belacqua journeys to the far North to save her best friend and other kidnapped children from terrible experiments by a mysterious organization.

Director:

Chris Weitz

Writers:

Chris Weitz (screenplay), Philip Pullman (novel)

Stars:

Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards

Won 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 32 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nicole Kidman	...	Mrs. Coulter
Daniel Craig	...	Lord Asriel
Dakota Blue Richards	...	Lyra
Ben Walker	...	Roger
Freddie Highmore	...	Pantalaimon (voice)
Ian McKellen	...	Iorek Byrnison (voice)
Eva Green	...	Serafina Pekkala
Jim Carter	...	John Faa
Tom Courtenay	...	Farder Coram
Ian McShane	...	Ragnar Sturlusson (voice)
Sam Elliott	...	Lee Scoresby
Christopher Lee	...	First High Councilor
Kristin Scott Thomas	...	Stelmaria (voice)
Edward de Souza	...	Second High Councilor
Kathy Bates	...	Hester (voice)

Storyline

It was no ordinary life for a young girl: living among scholars in the hallowed halls of Jordan College and tearing unsupervised through Oxford's motley streets on mad quests for adventure. But Lyra's greatest adventure would begin closer to home, the day she heard hushed talk of an extraordinary particle. Microscopic in size, the magical dust--discovered in the vast Arctic expanse of the North--was rumored to possess profound properties that could unite whole universes. But there were those who feared the particle and would stop at nothing to destroy it. Catapulted into the heart of a terrible struggle, Lyra was forced to seek aid from clans, 'gyptians, and formidable armored bears. And as she journeyed into unbelievable danger, she had not the faintest clue that she alone was destined to win, or to lose, this more-than-mortal battle...

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Plot Keywords:

orphan | parallel universe | quest | missing child | kidnapping | 

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Taglines:

"It is the Alethiometer. It tells the truth. As for how to read it, you'll have to learn by yourself."

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of fantasy violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

The first movie to gross over $300 million worldwide while failing to reach $100 million in the U.S. Although a U.S. box-office disappointment (only grossing $70 million), the movie captured $302 million at the foreign box office, giving it a worldwide total of $372 million. This became a more common phenomenon following the expansion of the Chinese box-office market that began in 2010, even though this movie only grossed $4 million in that market. Unfortunately, New Line Cinema did not benefit from the foreign box office success: they had already sold the overseas rights before the movie was made, in order to secure the film's $200 million budget. The domestic failure of the movie caused the end of New Line as an independent company, when the bankrupt studio was subsequently absorbed by Warner Bros. in 2008.

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Goofs

In the conference room where Lyra knocks the glass from Lord Asriel's hand, it falls to the floor and breaks. Almost immediately, the other attendees begin to arrive. Lyra goes and hides in the wardrobe and Asriel greets the attendees. None mention or even appear to notice the mess on the floor where Lord Asriel is standing. Even Fra Pavel who had poisoned it ignores it.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Serafina Pekkala: There are many universes and many Earths parallel to each other. Worlds like yours, where people's souls live inside their bodies, and worlds like mine, where they walk beside us, as animal spirits we call daemons.
Stelmaria: Are we going to see the child?
Lord Asriel: I should think so.
Serafina Pekkala: So many worlds. But connecting them all is Dust. Dust was here before the witches of the air, the Gyptians of the water, and the bears of the ice. In my world, scholars invented an alethiometer - a golden compass - and it ...

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Crazy Credits

The film's title logo appears on the end credits twice

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Connections

Referenced in Brows Held High: Vinyl (2012)

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Soundtracks

Lady in the Water
[Theme in the trailer for "The Golden Compass"]

User Reviews

Great movie

I don't understand why there was not a second or third movie made. The story was well acted and the concept was brilliant

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English Icelandic Russian French

Release Date:

7 December 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Golden Compass

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$180,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$26,125,000, 9 December 2007

Gross USA:

$70,107,728

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$372,234,864

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Ingenious Film Partners, Scholastic Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1