Anand Tucker, the British director who recently wrapped Shopgirl for Ashok Amritraj, is now walking Peter Jackson's path. Tucker will direct the film The Golden Compass, based on author Philip Pullman's award-winning trilogy for New Line, which also produced Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Jackson, like Tucker, had directed couple of smaller films, costing about $6 million in his native New Zealand, before he convinced New Line that he could direct the Lord of the Rings project. Each of the three films he made in the series cost about $90 million.
Jackson impressed New Line by providing its executives with sketches and extensive notes about how he would make the film.
According to the trade publication Variety, Tucker, who was raised in London by his Indian father and European mother, submitted 20 pages of notes and sketches to New Line, a sister concern of Warner Bros. The Pullman trilogy, which is dark and magical, deals with, among other things, young children taking huge risks and making choices that would baffle even adults.
At least 50 film-makers were vying for the contract. Chris Weitz, the maker of the enormously successful American Pie (worldwide gross, $250 million) resigned from the project a few weeks ago because of its huge "technical challenges."
Tucker, who has been dreaming of making a fantasy movie for a long time, renewed his efforts to bring Pullman to the big screen.
"The opportunity to turn Philip Pullman's extraordinary story into a film is literally a dream come true," Tucker told BBC. Tucker, who has directed three feature films, including Hilary and Jackie, nominated for two acting Oscars, added: "I instantly fell in love with the trilogy His Dark Materials when it was first published (about five years ago), and have been a huge fan ever since."
Pullman, who has seen Tucker's films and who also had a say in the choice of the director for his trilogy, told reporters in London: ""I warmly welcome Anand Tucker as director of the first His Dark Materials film. He respects the integrity of the narrative and will maintain that integrity in the film-making process."