On Thursday, at Comic-Con San Diego, actors James McAvoy (Lord Asriel), Lee Scoresby, Ruth Wilson and Dafne Keen (Lyra Belacqua) introduced the new HBO / BBC His Dark Trailer Materials. The fantasy trilogy signed by Philip Pullman, which captivated the audience since its first publication in the late 1990s, proved difficult to adapt to the big screen. The Golden Compass (2007) featured the first series of the series, but HBO has big plans, making a series that uses the material of the entire trilogy. In The Golden Compass in 2007, Nicole Kidman appeared in the role played now by Ruth Wilson, Daniel Craig in the role played by James McAvoy and Dakota Blue Richards in the role now played by Dafne Keen.
The trailer shows who the negative hero is: an organization called Magisterium. Lord Asriel is one of the forces and opposite Mrs. Coulter. At the heart of the whole story is the theme of child abduction, institutional kidnappings, as Mrs. Coulter is sinister: “Sometimes the children simply disappear …” And the evil character of the character is overwhelmed in a phrase: “I can and run, I can fight and fight … ”
During the discussion at Comic-Con, the actors discussed what attracted them and Lin-Manuel Miranda revealed a personal link to the project: “When I was with my wife in the first months together, I read these books together, said to the audience surprise. “They have a very special place in my heart.”
Miranda was approached by the executive producers during the Mary Poppins Returns filming in London, and accepted the co-op as soon as the project was presented to her before she even found out the role she would play. “The first two days of filming were a long, complicated sequence in which I am a hot air balloon pilot, in which I draw all kinds of balloon strings and ballasts to fly my balloon. The next scene lasted three days, it was the scene of a beating in a pub. Other than Mary Poppins, “Miranda added in the room laughed.
Miranda and executive producer Jane Tranter have given new information, namely that the series will feature Miranda’s singing qualities with musical moments since it will appear on the screen. “I entered this by singing a duet with my daemon in a hot air balloon – an exciting way to make your appearance,” he said.
For Ruth Wilson, her character is “a reservoir of moral misery and the mother of all evils …” “It’s interesting to play an evil character, but it’s unpredictable and scary precisely because of that,” says Wilson.
Dafne Keen revealed, almost guiltily, that he had not read the books before the film, stressing that they had appeared before she was born. The actress continued describing how her character changed over the show. “At first, he’s lying and he’s arrogant, but in reality, he’s more innocent,” Keen said. “The episode in which Lyra is head in the clouds and then, but, life strikes her in front of it makes it grow big,” said the actress that was released with the movie Logan.
Also, writer Jack Thorne, along with other members of the team, came along with other screenwriters: Anne-Marie Duff, Clarke Peters, Ariyon Bakare, Will Keen, Ian Gelder, Georgina Campbell, Lewin Lloyd, Lucian Msamati, James Cosmo, Daniel Frogson, Tyler Howitt, Ruta Gedmintas and Mat Fraser.
As I said in the opening article, it is not the first adaptation of Philip Pullman’s book with first-class actors. The Golden Compass movie, directed by Chris Weitz, had poor boxing results (a $ 180 million buck-up budget has earned only $ 372 million). It seems HBO and the BBC are hoping for a better reaction this time.
In the new version, Keen plays Lyra, a difficult role to capture with all the sequences of action and the CGI that runs beside her. Lyra is accompanied by her daemon, a gentle and giddy ferret. James McAvoy plays the role of Lord Asriel, an adventurer whose secret expedition is important in the film. Wilson plays the sinister role of Mrs. Coulter, accompanied by an equally malefic monkey. Miranda, with his huge boots, is adventurer Lee Scoresby.
The book that inspired the film, Dark Matter, is a trilogy made up of the Golden Compass (or the Northern Lights), the Crested Pumnal and the Amber Eye. Pullman also wrote a prequel, La Belle Sauvage, starting a book that starts where the trilogy ends, leaving a wide range of content that can then be screened. British BBC is already preparing for the production of the second season of eight episodes, just before the first season is broadcast.
BBC Director-General Tony Hall talked about what a major move to the post, describing the project as “truly ambitious” and having “high costs per episode”. The first season will be broadcast later this year. HBO signs co-production and holds distribution rights outside the UK.
