Most Disappointing Movie Adaptations
The Golden Compass has been named the most disappointing movie adaptation by Entertainment Weekly.
The film, based on Philip Pullman’s fantasy novel Northern Lights, topped a list of 23 movies that didn’t match up to their parent books.
Ron Howard’s version of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code was placed second, the US remake of Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch came third, Memoirs of a Geisha, based on Arthur Golden’s bestseller was fourth, and the 2005 Ray Bradbury adaptation A Sound of Thunder rounded out the top five.
Sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes and Brian De Palma’s 1990 take on Tom Wolfe’s acclaimed novel Bonfire of the Vanities also featured on the list.
The Golden Compass was a relative hit on its initial release, grossing $370 million at the worldwide box office with a production budget of $180 million. However, the film received a low 42% critical approval on the reviews rating website Rotten Tomatoes and was met with a mixed reaction from Pullman fans.
Smith’s Legend still the UK’s top film
The Will Smith sci-fi epic I Am Legend held the top spot at the UK box office at the weekend with an impressive £3.7m haul in its second week of release
Based on Richard Matheson’s classic 1954 novel about a post-apocalyptic world in which surviving humans have been transformed into mindless killers by a virus, Legend has also been a hit in the US and around the world.
There was little change elsewhere on the chart, with the top five films all having been previously released. The romantic comedy P.S. I Love You, starring Hilary Swank as a recent widow whose husband prepared a series of letters to be sent to her after his death, was in second spot with £1.79m in its third week. In third place was the Disney fantasy Enchanted, with £1.49m its fourth week, and the top five was rounded out by the new St Trinian’s movie, with £1.37m in its third week, and Phillip Pullman fantasy The Golden Compass, with £1.32m in its fifth week of release. Continue Reading…
Box Office: No Saturday Miracle Surge For The Golden Compass
There was no Saturday miracle surge for New Line. The Golden Compass, an effects-laden family film starring Nicole Kidman with a reported budget of $200M, received a modest 16% increase from its opening day, posting an estimated $10.2M on Saturday. Assuming a Sunday drop of 33%, Compass will finish its opening weekend with a disastrous $25.84M. (For a comparison to other big budget, family-oriented films in this mold along with details about New Line’s dismal 2007 and Nicole Kidman’s box office cold streak, scroll down to my Friday Night report.)
Disney’s Enchanted blew past $80M domestic with a $4.9M Saturday, and the live action/animation hybrid with a sure-fire Oscar nomination for Amy Adams will cruise to an estimated $10.98M. This Christmas (Sony), Fred Claus (Warner Bros) and Beowulf (Dreamworks/Paramount) have finished 3-4-5 on Saturday and for the 3-day frame.
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Juno (Fox Searchlight) enjoyed only a 2% increase from its meteoric Friday, grabbing a Saturday PTA of just over $18,000. The spectacularly-reviewed ensemble comedy will finish the weekend a PTA of just over $52,000, giving it one of the All-Time Top 50 opening weekend PTAs. This bodes very well for Searchlight’s upcoming expansion, and the commercial success can only help Oscar pushes for Ellen Page – Best Actress, Jennifer Garner – Best Supporting Actress, Diablo Cody – Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture.
Daniel Craig Dusts Up New Character in ‘Golden Compass’
He is already knee-deep in the Bond franchise, but that didn’t stop Daniel Craig from signing on for another potential series, The Golden Compass. In fact, the double commitment didn’t even cross his mind.
“I genuinely was such a fan of the books that when I heard that they were making it I thought, ‘I’d like to do this. I’d like to get involved,’” Craig explains. “I’m such a big Philip Pullman fan and his philosophies and his morals and the way he looks at the world. He writes children’s stories, but with major adult themes and sort of major ideas about being a good person and making the right choices.”
The story, based on Pullman’s His Dark Material trilogy, takes place in a world where each human has an animal spirit companion who acts as a manifestation of their soul. Twelve-year-old Lyra [Dakota Blue Richards] and her ever-changing animal friend Pantalaimon live as wards of Jordan College while Lyra’s uncle, Lord Asriel [Craig], travels to the Arctic and beyond searching for a controversial substance called Dust. Soon the precocious preteen finds herself on a journey all her own.
When Hollywood.com met up with Craig in London, he gushed about his talented young costar, what’s in store for everyone’s favorite secret agent, and playing the fame game…
