Project Detail

The Golden Compass

Synopsis

Based on author Philip Pullman's bestselling and award-winning novel, The Golden Compass tells the first story in Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. The Golden Compass is an exciting fantasy adventure, set in an alternative world where people's souls manifest themselves as animals, talking bears fight wars, and Gyptians and witches co-exist. At the centre of the story is Lyra (played by newcomer Dakota Blue Richards), a 12-year-old girl who starts out trying to rescue a friend who's been kidnapped by a mysterious organisation known as the Gobblers - and winds up on an epic quest to save not only her world, but ours as well.

Details

Year
2008
Type of project
Features
Running time
tbc
Format
35mm
Director
Chris Weitz
Producer
Bob Shaye, Michael Lynne, Toby Emmerich, Mary Ordesk, Ileen Maisel, Andrew Miano, Paul Weitz
Editor
Anne V. Coates
Screenwriter
Chris Weitz, Philip Pullman (Novel)
Director of Photography
Henry Braham
Production Designer
Dennis Gassner
Composer
Alexandre Desplat
Principal cast
Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards, Sam Elliott, Eva Green, Tom Courtenay, Ben Walker, Adam Godley, Simon McBurney, Nonso Anozie, Jim Carter, Clare Higgins, Jack Shepherd, Magda Szubanski, Ian McShane, Daniel Craig

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

New Line Cinema

116 N. Robertson Blvd.
Ste. 200
Los Angeles, CA 90048
USA

www.newline.com

Ingenious Film Partners (UK)

Scholastic Productions (US)
Depth of Field (US)
Rhythm and Hues(US)

Sales Company

New Line Cinema

116 N. Robertson Blvd.
Ste. 200
Los Angeles, CA 90048
USA

www.newline.com

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

A demon wearing a mask carrying an axe attacks. Grin

Director: Lawrence Fowler

Year: 2026

Following a horrific crime committed when they were young, a group of four friends think it will remain a secret forever until they discover and play a vintage board game. When the game unwittingly summons the grotesque clown demon ‘Grin’, it soon becomes clear the demon targets those who have committed terrible sins. Official selection FrightFest 2026

Band playing on stage The Public

Director: Asa Gartland

Year: 2026

The Public have just played the best gig of their lives, and for the first time, someone in a suit is interested. It feels like the moment they have been waiting for, but celebrations quickly descend into chaos. Andy, the band's quiet and devoted guitarist, watches as his dream begins to dissolve around him. A chain reaction is set in motion as secrets are exposed, loyalties shift, and buried tensions explode to the surface. As the night spirals further out of control, the frontman, Ted, is pulled toward a future that could take him away for good. Andy becomes desperate to save Ted from himself and hold everything together, even as it becomes clear that some things will never be the same.

Dinner table scene, psychological control, the wife is subject to a societal trial and judgement influenced by her abusive husband. (In)Visible

Director: Sam Joseph

Year: 2025

(IN)VISIBLE explores the psychological effects of domestic abuse and society’s complicity in trial and judgement. A young wife, abused by her older husband, is misread as cold and detached while he charms his friends. When he suddenly leaves during a very awkward and tense pre-dinner gathering against the backdrop of a symbolic art exhibition, she finds herself at the centre of an uncomfortable, damning trial by those who only know his version of the story. The trial unfolds around a contemporary table setting, echoing iconic scenes from art history, showing the historical repeated patterns of how women are seen, silenced, and judged. The film’s emotional power lies in what remains unsaid, and it reveals the insidious nature of domestic abuse and the ease with which a perpetrator can shape a victim's story; in this narrative, the wife endures a hostile societal trial and judgment with strength, dignity and resilience.