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His Dark Materials has its fans, but a lot more of them are in Europe than the U.S. I remark upon this largely to point out that in any number of ways, The Golden Compass was ill-conceived as an American studio project. Nowadays, Transformers movies barely have to open in the States to rake in overseas money that keeps that franchise indefinitely afloat. Abrams' Star Trek would pull down about the same figure two years later ($385 million), and be deemed a franchise-launching hit, because more of that money came from American wallets. The Golden Compass' global take was $372 million for context, J.J. The film did remarkably better overseas, though, a benchmark which would become the primary focus of the industry just a couple of years later. The Golden Compass' shoddy $70 million box office take in the United States, against a $180 million budget, marked it as a resounding dud. When it arrived, The Golden Compass was released into a Hollywood whose box office interest (and more importantly, shareholder outlook) was based on how films performed domestically. In one regard, this was a vestige of poor timing. The first film in an intended three-film cycle based on Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, Chris Weitz's The Golden Compass instead became caught between worlds - not an inappropriate fate for a story about interdimensional travel - and was quietly buried.

Released at the end of 2007, The Golden Compass aimed to become the third jewel in a crown of mega-grossing 21st century fantasy adaptations, following The Lord of the Rings and The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.