Kidman to Golden Compass

The trades are reporting that Nicole Kidman is thisclose to inking a deal to play Mrs Coulter in New Line's long aborning, $150M adaption of my favorite fantasy novel, The Golden Compass.

Chris Weitz is set to direct his own script when "The Golden Compass" begins production this September in the United Kingdom.

After a lengthy series of open casting calls throughout England, newcomer Dakota Blue Richards was selected to play Lyra Belacqua, a young orphan living in and around Oxford University in a reality that mostly resembles our own, but also includes some unusual twists like friendly daemons, armor-clad polar bears and a mysterious Dust which may hold truths about physics, humanity and some kind of divine power.

New Line has already staked out a Nov. 16, 2007 release date for "The Golden Compass," which is expected to have a budget in the $150 million range, making it the largest undertaking for the company since the "Lord of the Rings" films.

What's that? Oh, that's just the sound of me wetting my pants.

So what's the downside? Looks like Pullman's exquisite satire of the Catholic Church has been cut... and how they could do that without gutting the story, I don't know. But it looks like we're all gonna find out.