Lyra Belacqua, an orphan raised in a college in Oxford, England, and her dæmon Pantalaimon (Pan) witness a Magisterium agent poison her uncle's bottle of Tokay wine. The story takes place in an alternate world dominated by a powerful church called the Magisterium, and where part of the soul resides outside a person as an animal companion called a dæmon.

Although the film's visual effects (which Weitz has called the film's 'most successful element') won both a BAFTA and an Academy Award, critical reception was mixed and revenue lower than anticipated. The studio ordered significant changes late in post-production, which Weitz later called a 'terrible' experience. Rescued by the Gyptians, Lyra joins them on a trip to the far north, to the land of the armored polar bears, in search of the missing children.īefore its release, the film received criticism from secularist organisations and fans of His Dark Materials for the dilution of elements of the story which were critical of religion, as well as from some religious organisations for the source material's anti-Catholic themes. Coulter is running the Gobblers, she flees. Poor, orphan, and Gyptian children are disappearing at the hands of a group the children call the Gobblers. In Lyra's world, a dogmatic ruling power called the Magisterium opposes free inquiry. The film depicts the adventures of Lyra Belacqua, an orphan living in a parallel universe on a world that looks much like our own. At US$180 million, it was one of New Line Cinema's most expensive projects ever, and its disappointing results in the USA contributed to New Line's February 2008 restructuring. The project was announced in February 2002, but difficulties over the script and the selection of a director caused significant delays. Written and directed by Chris Weitz, it stars Dakota Blue Richards, Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Tom Courtenay, Christopher Lee, Nicole Kidman and Sam Elliott.

The Golden Compass is a 2007 British-American fantasy-adventure film based on Northern Lights, the first novel in Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials.

Beyond the golden compass