HBO is getting a look at the next episode of His Dark Materials that’s set to arrive with a look at “The Idea of North,” which is scheduled for a November 10th, 2019 debut. The 2nd episode of the 1st season, it’s directed by Tom Hooper based on the story by Jack Thorne. Jane Tranter serves as the season’s showrunner.
The show has a solid cast to it with Dafne Keen, James McAvoy, Ruth Wilson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anne-Marie Duff, Clarke Peters, Ariyon Bakare, Will Keen, father of young lead Dafne Keen, Ian Gelder, Georgina Campbell, Lucian Msamati, James Cosmo, Ruta Gedmintas, Mat Fraser, Geoff Bell, Simon Manyonda and young actors Lewin Lloyd, Daniel Frogson and Tyler Howitt.
We noted back in 2015 that things have been grim for the novel series His Dark Materials after the failure that was The Golden Compass several years prior. And a curious failure at that as it did $70 million in the US but a strong $300 million overseas back in 2007. But it was with a $180 million budget and couldn’t break even. The change came in that the Philip Pullman trilogy is finding a new way to get made into live-action form as BBC One ordered an adaptation of the work in conjunction with New Line Cinema and Bad Wolf, which is a UK/US production company.
Plot concept: The first season of His Dark Materials follows Lyra (Dafne Keen), a seemingly ordinary but brave young woman from another world. Lyra’s search for a kidnapped friend uncovers a sinister plot involving stolen children, and becomes a quest to understand a mysterious phenomenon called Dust. As she journeys through the worlds, including our own, Lyra meets a determined and courageous boy called Will. Together they encounter extraordinary beings and dangerous secrets, with the fate of both the living—and the dead— in their hands.
