News

NEW YORK, December 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – ‘The Golden Compass”, the atheist-inspired film which sought to replicate Narnia’s success at the box office at Christmas two years ago has flopped by comparison.  Based on the anti-Christian novel by Philip Pullman, Compass took in $26.1 million in its first weekend, whereas ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ garnered $65.5 million on its weekend debut.

The Catholic League, which organized a boycott of the controversial film, as it would lead children to reading the anti-Christian books, saw the poor box office showing as evidence of a successful boycott. League President Bill Donohue said, “Our goal was to stop ‘The Golden Compass’ from meeting box office expectations, and we succeeded.”

Donohue suggested that considering ‘The Golden Compass’ “cost $180 million to produce, and another $30-$40 million in advertising, the inescapable conclusion is that our boycott worked.”

The New York Times took notice of the comparatively pathetic showing for the would-be blockbuster noting that instead of giving Hollywood a much needed shot in the arm, ‘It got more like a punch in the face.’ (see the NYT review: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/10/movies/10box.html?ref=business )

“All we heard from the chattering class over the past few weeks was that our boycott would have the reverse effect of enticing more people to see the film,” said Donohue.

Donohue concluded: “Let this be a lesson to militant atheists like Pullman: keep your hollow beliefs to yourself. And ease up on demonizing Catholicism-no other religion has done more to promote human rights, science and goodwill.”