The Golden Compass garnered lukewarm reception upon its release in 2007, so it’s perhaps a good sign that HBO’s forthcoming His Dark Materials series seems set to take after its novel counterpart – or so a newly-dropped trailer suggests.
The two-minute reel comes after a recent trailer launch at San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) 2019 that showed off its impressive cast, including the likes of James McAvoy, Ruth Wilson, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. This time, it starts off with McAvoy’s Lord Asriel speaking about his journey to the North, where he came across different worlds kept under wraps by a dominant religious influence called the Magisterium.
A brief synopsis of His Dark Materials reads –
Adapting Philip Pullman’s award-winning trilogy of the same name, which is considered a modern masterpiece of imaginative fiction, the series follows Lyra (Dafne Keen), a seemingly ordinary but brave young woman from another world. Her search for a kidnapped friend uncovers a sinister plot involving stolen children and becomes a quest to understand a mysterious phenomenon called Dust.
– Brief synopis of His Dark Materials
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Picking Keen for the role of Lyra seems like a pretty logical and solid choice, considering her remarkable performance as the fiery Laura/X23 mutant in the Wolverine-centric film Logan. Wilson and Miranda, meanwhile, have been cast as Mrs Coulter – Lyra’s main adversary – and Lee Scoresby respectively.
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His Dark Materials is scheduled for broadcast on November 3, 2019 on BBC, and November 4 on HBO, with the promise of bringing an exciting expedition to screens. Oh, did we forget to mention how badass the armoured polar bear Iorek Byrnison is shaping up to be?