Well, whether they should or not, apparently they are….

Catholic Church ‘Scared Hollywood Into Dumping His Dark Materials’ (Stephen Adams/The Telegraph; Dec 15)

Sam Elliott, the American actor, has accused the Catholic Church of scaring Hollywood producers into shelving the remaining two films in Philip Pullman’s fantasy trilogy, His Dark Materials.

He said executives at New Line Cinema had shelved plans for the two films, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, despite the “incredible” commercial success of the first in the trilogy, The Golden Compass.

The film, starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Eva Green, grossed more than £230 million ($380 million) worldwide following its Christmas 2007 release.

But after a concerted campaign by parts of the Catholic Church in the US it only took a modest £53 million ($85 million) there.

Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights led the attack, calling on parents to boycott the film, saying it would prompt children to go and buy Pullman’s novels, which he described as “atheism for kids”.

The trilogy sees a young heroine called Lyra battling against a manipulative organisation called the Magisterium, which many have interpreted as being based on the Catholic Church.

The message in The Golden Compass was toned down compared to that in the book, published as Northern Lights in Britain, to appease the American religious right.

However, that did little to dampen their protests and it now appears that campaigners’ tactics have worked, with no sign that the films will be made.

Asked what had happened to the two remaining films, Elliott, 65, who played a Texan aeronaut called Lee Scoresby in the film, said: “The Catholic Church happened to The Golden Compass, as far as I’m concerned.

“It did ‘incredible’ at the box office, taking $380 million. Incredible. It took $85 million in the States.”

He added: “The Catholic Church … lambasted them, and I think it scared New Line off.”

Mr Donohoe said he was “delighted that the boycott worked”.

“I knew if we could hurt the box office receipts here, it might put the brakes on the next movie,” he told the Evening Standard.

“The reason I protested was the deceitful attempt to introduce Christian children to the wonders of atheism in a backdoor fashion at Christmas time.

“Everyone agrees the film version was not anti-Catholic, but that hardly resolves the issue. The fact is that each volume in the trilogy becomes increasingly anti-Catholic.”

Philip Pullman admitted the chances of the film trilogy being completed were slimming.

He said he had heard nothing from Warner Bros, which absorbed New Line last year, before adding: “But I’m only the writer and we are always the last to know”.

Re-casting the main role of Lyra would be necessary but artistically problematic, he said, as English actress Dakota Blue Richards who played Lyra was now 15.

He said the Catholics’ campaign “must have played a part” in the project being shelved.

Although Pullman openly described himself as an atheist, he denies His Dark Materials is anti-Catholic. Rather it is a warning about what religion can do “when it gets its hands on the levers of power”.

Earlier this year the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, praised Pullman’s work for taking the Church “seriously” at a time when theology was “drifting out” of the mainstream.

New Line has declined to comment.

Philip Pullman ‘Disgusted’ Over Claim Catholics Torpedoed Films (The Telegraph; Dec 16)

Sam Elliott, the American actor, has depressed Philip Pullman, the atheist author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, with his claim that a group of Roman Catholics managed to browbeat Hollywood producers into abandoning plans to film any more of his books.

“It’s disgusting, but only the sort of behaviour I expect of these people,” the best-selling author says of the campaign Catholics in America waged against The Golden Compass, the film adaptation of the first of his trilogy.

Of the Catholics’ contention that the film had introduced children to atheism, he says: “It’s rubbish. I am very disappointed because it obviously would have been very good to have seen the other two films made.”

The 63-year-old author says several important scenes shot during the making of The Golden Compass were not included in the film because they were being kept back for a sequel.

“The film finished about three quarters of the way into the book so there were a number of very important scenes that were shot and were very good, but we didn’t see them in the film,” he says.

“Their justification was that they were going to use the scenes they’d shot, but at the start of the second film.”

Pullman, who has admitted in the past that he is “trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief”, claims that he supports Christ’s teachings, but argues that the notion they came from God was used to justify some of the darkest episodes in the Church’s history.

“Jesus said all kinds of stuff that I’m a complete supporter of,” he adds.

For a brief look at the Catholic Church’s long-standing embrace of censorship, see the set of entries I posted on Sept 30, 2003.

To learn more about the antics of the Catholic League’s William Donohue, see Theist Files #909, #1233, and #3899 as well as the entries I posted on July 23, 2008 and May 26, 2009.