His Dark Materials.

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

The books were worse, although book 1 was ok. They couldn’t have been that popular either as you never see people dressing up as the characters at Halloween etc.

They're not those types of books. They were aimed at an older audience (Would now be classified as YA I suppose).

As for their popularity, they are extremely popular in the UK: The last book won the whitbread prize and was nonimated for the booker prize.

There is an element of world-building/character introductions in the first book and, IMHO, is the weakest of the three (But still fantastic).

Recommended.

NIMAN wrote: »

They came 3rd in the BBC Top 100 books of All Time.:eek:

Not to mention the third winning the Whitbread prize (The only "Children"'s book to do so) and was long-listed for the booker prize. So.... reasonably popular

Well, in fairness to the movie, I thought it looked great. The effects were great for the time (Apart from the golden monkey). I thought the casting was great (Especially Asriel, Mrs. Coulter and of course Lee). But the first book was very fast paced and introduced so many characters. I mean, in book 2 & 3 there are a lot fewer new characters introduced: Will, of course, Mary, the Galivespians, Will's companions, Mary's friends (Trying to be as vague as possible for non-readers). Plus they had to water down the central elements of the story to appease the US market so it came across as quite anemic.

So book one (And the first movie) had to introduce a large pool of characters which is difficult to do in a regular-length movie. Much more suited to a TV series. They can certainly move around some character appearances. Will and Mary's back stories can be introduced in season 1 so they are not brand new in season 2. They will probably do this.

Assuming they are going to do one season per book (Season 2 already greenlit) each series if going to have some serious issues to overcome:

Season 1 will need to engage people pretty quickly and, as I said, there are a lot of characters and a whole universe to explain. HBO need to be sure that they don't advertise this as the next fantasy series for people looking to sate their Game of Thrones appetite. Its' not that kind of series . It looks like they aren't though, which is good.

Season 2 the overall storyline becomes more apparent (Again, trying to be vague). This will potentially cause a bit of a stink in the US but HBO and BBC have enough integrity/money/power to not give a sh*t about who kicks up. They cannot change this without gutting the entire point of the books.

Season 3 is likewise going to have issues with certain groups in the US and also Mary's friends will be difficult to get across.

Obviously the books were HUGE in the UK/Europe. I don't think they were all that big in the US simply because I never heard any backlash about them there. I mean they were burning Harry Potter books so I can only imagine what some groups would have done with these books there.

When BBC make their "prestige" shows they do them right: "Screw what people think. They don't like it? tough". They also have HBO money and quality behind them. HBO/BBC gave us Band of Brothers..... 18 years ago And it's still considered a benchmark in TV drama.

To those who have NOT read the books: The show has GREAT potential. The world is fantastic, the storyline is interesting and thought-provoking. The cast seems to be very good (I was on the fence about McEvoy but he looks good in the (brief) shots of him). And the behind the scenes people are VERY good.

It's just NOT the next Game of Thrones.

Was just coming here to post this.

I am a HUGE fan of the books. Have bought then numerous times only to give them to friends (I never loan books. If I like a book and think someone else will, I give it to them). Now I have an autographed set that ain't going nowhere

I was initially a little concerned about McEvoy. I thought he was too slight for the role. However he does look great here. A little bit too emotional at the start but that may be down to editing the trailer - I always imagined him as being even more stern with Lyra.

I always imagines Lyra as more blonde. Physically quite like the girl who played her in the (toothless) movie. But I'm really liking the look of her now as we see more. (I didn't even realise she was half English in Logan). She looks great here. Nice fire to her.

Ruth Wilson: Again, I always thought of Catherine Zeta Jones when I was reading the books: Beautiful but cold and ruthless. Ruth Wilson? Perfect! In the words of Stan Lee: 'nuff said.

Lee:....... Ohhhhh.... I always imagined Lee as older and weathered. I thought Sam Elliot was perfect as Lee. It's my only concern. (But he is a very versatile actor so I'm hoping for the best)

Iorek. Looks great. Will be interesting to see how he emotes.

Good the see the central premise is front and center (Trying to be vague here for non-readers).

Have seen pic of Will. Looks spot on too. Not what I was expecting but real good choice. At least physically. Know nothing about the actor. I would imagine that, given his arc, they will probably introduce him towards the end of this season. Just 20 mins over last two episodes would do. End with him
Season 2 already greenlit. I suppose they are waiting for the viewer numbers for Season 1 before they greenlight Season 3 given how astronomical those costs will be Some could be cut I suppose. As much as it would pain us to see them go
Fingers crossed. I was underwhelmed by Amazon's Good Omens as I was probably expecting too much from that because I also loved that book. Trying to dial back but I trust BBC/HBO partnership.....