The Golden Compass (2007) Movie and Film Photos and Desktop
Wallpapers
The Golden Compass is a fantasy film based upon Northern Lights (published as The Golden Compass in the U.S.), the first novel in Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials, and was released on December 5, 2007 by New Line Cinema. It stars Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, Eva Green and Dakota Blue Richards. The project was announced in February 2002, following the success of recent adaptations of other fantasy epics, but troubles over the script and the selection of a director caused significant delays. At $180 million, it was one of New Line's most expensive projects ever, and its middling success in the US contributed to New Line's February 2008 restructuring. The story concerns Lyra, an orphan living in a fantastical parallel universe in which a dogmatic theocracy called the Magisterium threatens to dominate the world. When Lyra's friend is kidnapped, she travels to the far North in an attempt to rescue him and rejoin her uncle.
Before its release, the film received criticism from secular organizations and fans of His Dark Materials for the dilution of the religious elements from the novels, as well as from some religious organizations for the source material's perceived anti-Christian and atheistic themes. The film was met with mixed reviews, and failed to meet expectations at the U.S. box office, but its international performance more than quadrupled the U.S. figures, surpassing $300 million for a total of $372 million worldwide to date, and the film also went on to win both an Academy Award and a BAFTA for its visual effects. No announcement has yet been made as to whether sequels will be produced, although producer Deborah Forte said she intends to make them.
In a parallel universe in which a person's soul resides outside the body in the form of an animal called a "dæmon", Europe is controlled by an authoritarian organization called the Magisterium. In Oxford, orphaned Lyra Belacqua, a ward of Jordan College, tells of the "Gobblers", who she and her friends hold responsible for the disappearance of several other local children. The college is visited by Lyra's uncle, Lord Asriel, who intends to present evidence which points to the existence of particles called "Dust", in defiance of official Magisterium doctrine. After Lyra saves Asriel from assassination at the hands of a Magisterial representative, he obtains funding from the college to mount an expedition to the far north in order to investigate the substance, which he believes originates in a parallel universe to his own and enters a person's body via their dæmon. Fearing the effects of Dust, the Magisterium conducts experiments on children in order to find a means of inoculating them against it.
After Asriel departs, the college is visited by Mrs. Coulter, who offers to take Lyra north as her assistant. Before leaving, Lyra is entrusted with an alethiometer (the film's titular Golden Compass) by the master of the college. The alethiometer is a device that is able to reveal the answer to any question asked of it by a trained user, and is the last in existence since the Magisterium forbade their use. Though unable to operate the device, Lyra accepts the gift and takes it with her to Mrs. Coulter's home. When Mrs. Coulter arouses Lyra's suspicions by delaying their journey, Lyra discovers that Mrs. Coulter is head of the General Oblation Board, the "Gobblers" who have been kidnapping local children. She also discovers that her best friend Roger and her Gyptian friend Billy Costa have been taken by the Gobblers to the north.
Mrs. Coulter learns of Lyra's possession of the alethiometer, but Lyra escapes. The "Gobblers" pursue her, but she is saved by the Gyptians: a nomadic boat people. They are planning to travel north by sea to rescue the kidnapped children, who have many Gyptians amongst them. Lyra travels with them and comes to an understanding of the alethiometer's use with the aid of a Gyptian wise man, Farder Coram, and the queen of a witch clan, Serafina Pekkala, who appears during the journey. At a Norwegian port, Lyra befriends aeronaut Lee Scoresby, who advises her to hire Iorek Byrnison, an exiled prince of a race of armoured polar bears. Iorek is employed as a metalworker in the port after he was tricked out of his armour by the local townspeople. Lyra uses the alethiometer to discover the armour's location, which Iorek recovers. He pledges his service to Lyra's cause, and Scoresby is hired by the Gyptians to aid them on the trek north.
The alethiometer guides Lyra to Billy Costa, who has escaped from a Magisterium research station. She finds him dazed and lacking his demon, and returns him to the Gyptians. The group is attacked by a tribe of Samoyeds and Lyra is captured. She is taken to the king of the armoured bears, who Lyra tricks into fighting Iorek for the throne. Iorek kills him and reclaims his kingship. He carries Lyra to the Magisterium research station, but the two are separated by the collapse of an ice bridge. Lyra pretends to be lost and is welcomed into the station by Magisterium scientists. She locates Roger and instructs him to have the other kidnapped children prepare for escape. Lyra discovers that the Magisterium scientists, under the guidance of Mrs. Coulter, are performing experiments to sever the bond between a child and his or her demon. After being discovered eavesdropping by the scientists, Lyra is taken to a room where they begin performing the separation procedure on her. Before the procedure is completed, Mrs. Coulter enters the room and rescues Lyra from the machinery, taking Lyra to her quarters.
Mrs. Coulter explains that the separation procedure is necessary because Dust begins to flow into a child via the demon when puberty begins, and says that it causes "bad thoughts" as children near maturity. She tells Lyra that she stopped the procedure on her because the device is not yet perfected and sometimes causes the death of the child. She also tells Lyra that she is her mother, and Lord Asriel is her father. Lyra learns that Asriel is engaged in his research farther north and that assassins have been sent to kill him. When Mrs. Coulter asks for the alethiometer, Lyra incapacitates her and escapes.
Lyra destroys the separation machinery, leading to a series of explosions which begin to tear down the facility. Lyra leads the other children outside, where Magisterial guards block their escape. A battle ensues when Iorek, the Gyptians, and a band of witches led by Serafina Pekkala arrive. The guards are defeated and the children are rescued. Instead of travelling back south with the Gyptians and the rescued children, Lyra and Roger choose to travel north with Lee Scoresby, Iorek Byrnison and Serafina to find Lord Asriel. Serafina posits that the Magisterium doesn't just want to control their world, but "every world in every universe"; however, Lyra is sure that, once she delivers the alethiometer to her father, the two of them will be able to make things right.
Cast:
Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra Belacqua, who embarks on a voyage to battle the forces of evil and rescue her best friend. New Line Cinema announced 12-year-old Richards' casting in June 2006. She had attended an open audition after watching a stage production of His Dark Materials, and was picked from 10,000 girls who auditioned, for what was her first acting role.
Nicole Kidman as Marisa Coulter, the woman who takes care of Lyra and the antagonist of the film. Kidman was author Philip Pullman's preferred choice for the role ten years before production of the film,[6] and despite initially rejecting the offer to star as she didn't want to play a villain, she signed on after receiving a personal letter from Pullman.
Daniel Craig as Lord Asriel, Lyra's ruthless and mysterious adventurer uncle. In July 2006, it was reported that Paul Bettany was in talks to play the role.
Ian McKellen as Iorek Byrnison, a panserbjørn (armoured bear) who becomes Lyra's friend and comrade. Nonso Anozie had recorded lines for the part of Iorek Byrnison, but was replaced by McKellen at a late stage as New Line wanted a bigger name in the role. New Line president of production Toby Emmerich admitted he "never thought Anozie sounded like Iorek" and while he initially trusted director Weitz's casting decision, he "never stopped thinking that this guy didn't sound right." The recasting was against Weitz's wishes, though he later said "if you're going to have anyone recast in your movie, you're happy it's Ian McKellen."
Ian McShane as the voice of Ragnar Sturlusson, king of the panserbjørnene. Ragnar's name in the book was Iofur Raknison, but the name was changed to prevent confusion between him and Iorek.
Sam Elliott as Lee Scoresby, a Texan aeronaut who comes to Lyra's aid. In Lyra's world, a Texan is any American.
Eva Green as Serafina Pekkala, a witch queen.
Freddie Highmore as the voice of Pantalaimon, Lyra's dæmon. Pan was originally to be voiced by an older actor, but they called in Highmore instead, as it would be more of an intimate relationship if Pan and Lyra were the same age, and also would underscore the contrast between Lyra's relationship with him versus her relationships with older male characters such as Lord Asriel, Lee Scoresby, and Iorek.
Ben Walker as Roger Parslow, Lyra's best friend, who is kidnapped and taken North.
Clare Higgins as Ma Costa, member of a Gyptian family which aids Lyra.
Jim Carter as John Faa, the king of the Gyptians.
Tom Courtenay as Farder Coram, Gyptian second-in-command and advisor to John Faa.
Kathy Bates as the voice of Hester, Lee Scoresby's daemon.
Kristin Scott Thomas as the voice of Stelmaria, Lord Asriel's daemon.
Jack Shepherd as Master of Jordan College.
Simon McBurney as Fra Pavel.
Magda Szubanski as Mrs. Lonsdale.
Christopher Lee as the Magisterium's First High Councilor. Lee's casting was also at New Line's behest, rather than that of Chris Weitz.
Derek Jacobi as the Magisterial Emissary.
Charlie Rowe as Billy Costa.
Sequels: New Line Cinema commissioned Hossein Amini to write a screenplay based on the second book in the trilogy, The Subtle Knife, potentially for release in late 2009, with the third book of the trilogy, The Amber Spyglass, to follow. However, New Line president Toby Emmerich stressed that production of the second and third films was dependent on the financial success of The Golden Compass. When The Golden Compass failed to meet expectations at the United States box office, the likelihood of a sequel was downplayed by New Line. According to studio co-head Michael Lynne, "The jury is still very much out on the movie, and while it's performed very strongly overseas we'll look at it early 2008 and see where we're going with a sequel."
If sequels are produced, Weitz has said that he intends to "protect [their] integrity" by being "much less compromising" in the book-to-film adaptation process. On February 29, 2008, Weitz told The Daily Yomiuri that he still hopes for sequels, saying "at first it looked like we were down for the count because in the U.S. the film underperformed. But then internationally it performed better than expectations. So, a lot depends on Japan, frankly.... I think if it does well enough here we'll be in good shape for that."
On March 13, 2008, The Golden Compass Producer Deborah Forte expressed optimism that sequels could be made, and said that she intends to see them realized.[79] In July 2008, Phillip Pullman said it was still possible that a sequel would happen. revealing that plans were still being made and a script prepared.
All Snoron wallpapers are in JPG format and are compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux desktops. We've got wallpapers for your desktop with more added daily to our library, and they're all high-resolution top-quality scans. They're all free and
High Quality, with no logos or watermarks, so enjoy!
We offer you a huge selection of Free High Quality Desktop Wallpapers, Biographies, also we provide a mailing address and contact details for requesting autographs and sending fan mail.
Snoron Movies and Films
Desktop Wallpapers 
