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The Golden Compass was one of the most expensive films ever made, with a production budget of $180 million. Opening in over 20 countries on December 7, 2007, it managed to open at #1 in the US to a paltry $25.7 million. Spending only four weeks in the US top ten, it earned just $70.1 million during its entire run. New Line sold off the worldwide rights (something they have done with all their films); a bad move in hindsight, for the film earned just over $300 million overseas, with $50 million coming from its country of origin, the UK, and an additional $33 million earned in Japan.

When at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2009 to promote The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Weitz revealed that The Golden Compass was recut by New Line, and that his experience was, “a terrible one,” saying that by “being faithful to the book I was working at odds with the studio.” New Line had forced Weitz to make changes, be it dropping scenes, or casting Ian McKellen as the voice of Iorek Byrnison over Nonso Anozie. If any sequel were to go ahead, it seems clear that Weitz won’t be involved, though in all honesty, it’s just not going to happen.

“The Catholic church happened to The Golden Compass,” said Sam Elliot (who played Lee Scoresby), in an interview with UK newspaper Evening Standard. As to why there is no sequel, he said, “I think New Line is scared off.” Donohue of the Catholic League was delighted that the boycott worked, saying, “I knew if we could hurt the box office receipts here, it might put the brakes on the next movie.”

The trailers do show scenes that never made it into the final film. Notably, the end of the book is not present in the film. Although shot, it was Weitz’s decision to close with a more positive conclusion, opting to have those scenes open the now unlikely sequel. There are no deleted scenes on the DVD, but some of that "real ending" does appear in The Golden Compass video game. When released theatrically it ran at 113 minutes. In an interview, Weitz had expressed interest in putting out a director’s cut of the film, saying that “it could probably end up at two and a half hours.”

On December 18th, just 11 days after the release of The Golden Compass, there was a press release from New Line announcing that Peter Jackson would be executive producer on The Hobbit. They had kissed his (now slim) ass and agreed to pay him. As the years have gone on, he has since been attached to direct. The Hobbit will be split up into two films, so they’ll be charging audiences twice as much. It’s payback for not watching The Golden Compass, which although never explicitly named, is believed to have played a part in the downfall of the studio. In February 2008, it was revealed that New Line would shut down as a separate studio, but would continue to finance and market films as a part of their parent company, Warner Bros.

I viewed the film with my sister on a quiet Monday afternoon. We were both disappointed. I had not read the book, but I told my sister (who had) that given the unbelievably quick pace, it felt like watching a collection of best bits. She agreed with me. Part of that would be attributed to New Line taking over and having final cut. Weitz had unfortunately stumbled into a "damned if you do, damned if you don’t" scenario, being at odds with fans and the studio; who themselves were at odds with the Catholic church. In an interview with British newspaper The Times, Pullman said of the film, “A lot of things about it were good. Nothing can bring out all that's in the book. There are always compromises.”

Despite all the controversy, it’s not exactly an awful film, but it didn’t help that it wasn’t that good either. Reviews were mixed. The PG-13 rating (for fantasy violence), should have shown that the film is tailored more towards young teens, maybe putting off some parents looking for a family friendly film, though I personally don’t see what’s so PG-13 about it. Dakota Blue Richards, and Sam Elliot are the best things about the film. It also surprisingly won an Oscar and BAFTA for its visual effects. There may be a better director’s cut out there, but we probably won’t see that either.

Ultimately The Golden Compass upset the Christian right (most of whom didn’t see the film, they were just upset that it existed), and in trying to appease them, New Line Cinema recut the film for their benefit, and upset a number of fans in the process, including the film’s own director. In the end, no one was happy.

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