Golden Compass 2: Will a Sequel Ever Release?

After 17 years, a sequel to the Golden Compass movie feels highly unlikely.

Fans of The Golden Compass have been itching for a Golden Compass 2 movie since the first film’s release in 2007.

Directed by American Pie‘s Chris Weitz and starring the likes of Nicole Kidman (who was most recently seen in Lioness Season 2) and Daniel Craig, The Golden Compass sought to bring the world of Philip Pullman’s fantasy novel of the same name.

Earning a meager 51% on Rotten Tomatoes and raking in over $370 million at the international box office, the movie would never get a sequel despite a devoted fanbase of the books the movie was based on.

Will The Golden Compass 2 Ever Be Released?

Questions surrounding the release of The Golden Compass 2 still come up, even 17 years after the first movie’s release date.

Originally released in 2007, the plan was initially to tackle all three books in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series.

The trilogy of books (consisting of the novels Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass) was all originally planned to get the big-screen treatment, at least according to the first film’s director, Chris Weitz.

Weitz had talked about wanting to adapt the whole series in the wake of the first movie’s release. This was especially so as claims of changes between the movie and the book started to come up, as Weitz told fans he was hoping to keep things more faithful for any sort of cinematic follow-up.

In 2007, it was reported by Variety that New Line Cinemas (the studio behind the first film) was moving forward with a Subtle Knife and Amber Spyglass adaptation. Screenwriter Hossein Amini was reportedly set to pen the scripts for the films, with the first sequel set for release in 2010.

However, Amini’s take on the beloved literary world would never see the light of day.

After The Golden Compass came to theaters and did not meet expectations both critically and at the U.S. box office, New Line began to downplay any sort of plans for a Golden Compass 2.

In December 2007, studio co-head Michael Lynne told the Wall Street Journal, “The jury is still very much out on the movie,” and they would “look at it early 2008 and see where we’re going with a sequel.”

Despite moments of optimism being expressed by both Weitz and the New Line brass throughout 2008, the movies were eventually put on indefinite hold in October of that year, seemingly putting the nail in the coffin for Golden Compass 2 once and for all.

The story eventually made it to the screen in its entirety, though. Starting in 2019, fans saw the release of HBO’s His Dark Materials TV series starring The Acolyte actress Dafne Keen, which ran for three seasons, faithfully covering the events of all three books.

The Golden Compass is available now on most digital storefronts in the U.S. Meanwhile, the His Dark Materials series is streaming now on Max.