Worrying
The following item from today's Studio Briefing raised my eyebrows on two counts. First is the continued watering down of anything remotely critical of The Church in the arts/media.

Fans of the Philip Pullman novel (series) His Dark Materials have expressed outrage over news that director-screenwriter Chris Weitz (American Pie) has removed references to God and the Catholic church in the movie. Weitz told a website set up by fans of the novel, bridgetothestars.net, that New Line Cinema, the company producing the film, has "expressed worry about the possibility of perceived anti-religiosity." He said that the studio had told him that if the references remained, the project would become "unviable financially." He remarked that he had discussed the matter with Pullman, who had told him that the role of the Authority (God) in his book, could be transformed into "any arbitrary establishment that curtails the freedom of the individual." The religious villains in the film, he said, "may appear in more subtle guises." He added: "you will probably not hear of the 'Church.'" One fan posted a message on the website calling the changes a "blatant cop-out to the Bible Belt of America."

Second is the identity of the director of the film project--Chris Weitz. As noted, he did direct (with his brother) the first American Pie, and he did go on to adapt (very well, I must say) Nick Hornby's About a Boy. He'll also be in theaters this holiday season with In Good Company, in which "oldster" Dennis Quaid has to deal with a youngin' (Topher Grace) as his new boss. (I'm going to a preview screening of it tonight).

Now, I'm a big fan of the film version of About a Boy, and it was nominated for an Oscar, and I'm looking forward to In Good Company. But my wife and I have become fans of the series--we've read the first two books and recently got the third. (Though originally aimed at the same teen/young adult audience that gobbled up Harry Potter, these books are much more adult-oriented with their themes, sentiments, and surprising violence. Still I highly recommend picking up the first--The Golden Compass--and seeing how you like it. It's very gripping and chock full of fanciful and lyrical imagery and a very unique storyline involving an alternate Earth.) And I just don't see Mr. Weitz as a director of such a heavy/gothic teenage fantasy tale that has a very dark outlook on religion. He and his brother (who's usually a producing partner) are much better at smaller character films that have gentle human comedy foibles. I'm skeptical about how well this project will hew to the tone and basic premises of these books. Here's hoping it goes well, but right now I'm just not so sure.