His not as dark materials

When I first heard that they were making The Golden Compass (a.k.a Northern Lights) into a film I was worried. After Harry Potter's movie success Hollywood started going crazy to find the next kids books they could give the Potter treatment.

His Dark Materials, a trilogy by Phillip Pullman is perfect in many ways. It is a fantasy story, animals talk, kids are in hero positions and if successful there are two more to make into movies.

However, my first thought was "how the hell are they going to get around the fact that the books are very anti church (a very Catholic type of church)" It isn't subtle, it is really obvious.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love it if they did a true telling but I didn't see how Hollywood would let that happened and so, I assumed they would ruin it and make it suck or at least skirt the main issue of the story and really make it bland.

In the last year pictures have leaked, and then the trailers and I have to say I was very intrigued. Visually it looks awesome, a few of the charters are exactly how I imagined them which is pretty amazing and I even thought the casting of Nicole Kidman was a good move considering who she is playing. I was getting excited to see it.

However, I still hadn't heard a thing about the story (strangely the previews tell very little) and what they would do, and more surprising I hadn't heard anyone scream in protest.

Well, here it is. From Mania Movies this morning.

The first movie adaptation for the series, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, is hitting theaters this December and a lot of people have been wondering how New Line is planning on covering the "Anti-Catholic" tones involved with the story. Easy solution, says actress Nicole Kidman who stars in the film and was raised as a Catholic .. Take the references out of the equation.

"It has been watered down a little. ... I was raised Catholic. The Catholic Church is part of my essence. I wouldn't be able to do this film if I thought it were at all anti-Catholic."

The EW magazine goes on to state New Line has taken out any reference to Catholicism. Instead, the malevolent organization that snatches children to surgically remove their souls is referred to in the movie only as the Magisterium.

The MAGISTERIUM?? I can't believe the are changing the NAME. That makes it sound like it is just political when it is so much more than that.

Now I am afraid that they have white-washed it too much to enjoy. And the small amount of "like" that Nicole Kidman had gained with me in the last five years (I used to hate her) has been knocked down again.

I'll still go see it, but I am less excited and ready for disappointment.