What We Know About 'His Dark Materials' So Far

For those who might be unfamiliar with His Dark Materials, the fantasy trilogy, written by Philip Pullman, arrived in the mid-to-late 1990s with The Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. In that same period, both George R.R. Martin and J.K. Rowling released their seminal works A Song of Ice and Fire and Harry Potter, respectively as well. While these two authors have gone on to become popular beyond anyone's wildest imaginations thanks to successful mainstream adaptations of their works, Pullman's story - featuring an alternative Earth setting, souls that exist outside of bodies as living creatures, and dark religious overtones - has had a harder time finding its way to the screen.

The first book was adapted as a feature film under the novel's Americanized title The Golden Compass, and it was a muddled flop, with the producers playing down the religious angles of the story and rendering it into an incoherent mess about a girl riding a bear. (That girl, by the way, was Dakota Blue Richards, who went on to play PC Trewlove on Endeavour.) Since then, the rights to Pullman's works sat in limbo until 2015, when the BBC announced it would attempt a Game of Thrones-level adaptation with New Line helping foot the cost.