Preview: Golden Compass & Inkheart

The good folks at New Line Cinema
invited JoBlo.com to attend two set visits in

London
,
England

this past week, and I was lucky enough to be chosen to attend. I
along with the other journalists were escorted to the
Shepperton Studios just outside of central London to get an early
exclusive sneak peak of THE
GOLDEN COMPASS footage and watch a scene being shot for
both that film and INKHEART.
Here’s a small preview of what to expect…

THE
GOLDEN COMPASS

Director: Chris Weitz
(American Pie, About a Boy)
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Eva Green, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue
Richards, Sam Elliott, Ian McShane
Release date: December 7, 2007
Official site: www.goldencompassmovie.com

PLOT:
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 center 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
organization known as the Gobblers – and winds up on an epic quest
to save not only her world, but ours as well.

Tuesday, January 23rd:

Following The Golden
Compass scene we witnessed with a make belief Iorek and Lyra
who is perfectly portrayed by Dakota Blue Richards, we were given a
tour of the “prop” room and “stunt” room and
shown some incredible costumes, props, a recreation of a fight
scene and the secret behind the witches’ perfect flying techniques.
We then had an elaborate interview with producer Deborah
Forte, production designer Dennis Gassner and costume designer Ruth
Meyers. Last but not least we
were shown early footage of various scenes assembled for
our eyes only.

Based on what I’ve witnessed
thus far, it is safe to say that fans will not be disappointed by
director Chris Weitz’s fantasy screenplay adaptation of Phillip
Pullman’s best selling and award winning trilogy. It is obvious
by the great attention that has been paid to detail, that
authenticity is of utmost importance in the creation of the
film, THE GOLDEN COMPASS.

INKHEART

Director: Iain
Softley (The Skeleton Key, K-Pax)
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis, Rafi Gavron, Sienna Guillory
Release date: TBA 2007

PLOT:
INKHEART revolves around a girl whose father has the power to bring
characters from books to life by reading aloud. When a villainous
ruler and his band of rogues from a children’s fable kidnap the man,
his daughter and her friends, both real and imaginary, must rescue
him. Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire penned the big-screen
adaptation of German author Cornelia Funke’s fantasy novel, the
first of a trilogy. “Inkspell” was published last fall,
and “Inkdawn” will be out next year.

Wednesday, January 24th:

Again our group was
swept away to a different set at the Shepperton Studios to
watch a scene out of the action packed family adventure Inkheart
currently in production. An adaptation of Cornelia Funke’s best
selling novel, it was very exciting to watch the all star cast consisting
of Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis and
Eliza Bennett. We were then shown an incredible and
unbelievably realistic nearly completed set, followed by a
detailed explanation of the film’s costumes by costume designer
Verity Hawkes.

We were also walked and talked
through a series of concept design pictures and their transitions by
production designer John Beard, and given a demonstration by the
film’s animal trainers of the animal stunts performed in
the film. The finale was a brief interview with the cast that had
just finished shooting the scene we witnessed. Based on what I’ve
seen in production so far, I am very impressed.

Stay tuned for a more in-depth and
detailed review of my set visit, with pictures and interviews
to come in the next week or two. In the meantime, I am totally
LOVING

London

and entertaining the idea of relocating (wishful thinking of
course!!)