Golden Compass suffers "disaster" opening weekend, no sequels expected

Not to engage in schadenfreude, but let's follow the trajectory and see where it points:

Stage 1: The Golden Compass actor Sam Elliot starts off optimistic:

"Sam Elliot said he doesn’t expect the controversy surrounding his new film ‘The Golden Compass’ to affect its run in the box office. If anything, Elliot says, it will cause more people to see the film and read the books it is based off of."

Stage 2: Marketwatch wonders if the controversy will hurt the box office:

"It's often said in the film business that any kind of publicity is good, but that may not be the case with New Line Cinema's new release, "The Golden Compass."

Stage 3: Reuters reports that The Golden Compass "dissapoints at box office":

"The Golden Compass," a costly fantasy starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, got off to a slow start at the North American box office and will likely fall short of opening-weekend expectations.

New Line Cinema's $180 million film sold an estimated $8.8 million worth of tickets during its first day in theaters on Friday, according to data issued on Saturday by tracking firm Box Office Mojo."

Stage 4: Meanwhile, on meta-review site Rotten Tomatoes, GC scores a measly 44%:

"The best you can say about The Golden Compass is that it's merely the second-dullest Nicole Kidman/Daniel Craig film this year." - New York Post

Stage 5: Now in free-fall, Ropes of Silicon declares The Golden Compass "a Box-Office Disaster!":

"Out this week were two quality films in Juno and Atonement. On top of that you have the big budget fantasy epic from New Line The Golden Compass, which cost the studio $180 million to make and probably close to a bajillion dollars to market. Unfortunately for New Line the headline at Fantasy Moguls doesn't bode well for a sequel or the film itself, "GOLDEN COMPASS is a disaster w/$9M Friday & $27M 3-day."

"Yup, our very own Laremy Legel predicted the film would come in at #1 with upwards of $44 million, but it seems the film is going to fall flat and those hoping for a feature adaptation of "The Subtle Knife" or "The Amber Spyglass" are going to have to cry yourselves to sleep tonight as the fate of those two films relied on the success of this first one and $27 million opening weekend isn't going to cut it." (underlining mine.)

I don't know what the future holds, but if I had to guess, I'd wager that one could only accurately describe Stage 6 as a post mortum. Sometimes, the dust bin isn't so unfit a destination. And this is one of those times.

For AmP's previous coverage of The Golden Compass, click here.

update/related:

"Harry Forbes and John Mulderig of the USCCB Office for Film and Broadcasting appear to have been left holding the bag by the mainstream reviewers." [Read on.]