The first teaser trailer for the forthcoming TV adaptation of His Dark Materials has been released out into the world, and we for one are excited!
Set for release later in the year, the BBC and HBO co-production has amassed a sterling cast of small screen and big screen talent. Logan actress Dafne Keen has been cast as the central heroine, with James McAvoy donning his furs to play Lord Asriel. Meanwhile, Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has been cast as adventurer and balloonist Lee Scoresby, whilst Ruth Wilson stars as the enigmatic and dangerous Ms. Coulter.
Behind the camera the series the series brings together quite a creative crew too. Screenwriter and playwright Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, This Is England ’88) has adapted the books for television, whilst Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech), Dawn Shadforth and Otto Bathurst (Peaky Blinders) will be sharing the directorial duties.
Based on the novel series of the same name by Sir Philip Pullman, the eight part series, will follow Lyra as she navigates a world, though not unlike our own, where science, theology and magic are intertwined, and the soul lives outside the body in the form of a dæmon.
Fans of the books will recall that this isn’t the first attempt at adapting the series. A film adaptation starring Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman was released in 2007, but failed to win over critics or fans, and a planned sequel was shelved.
Whilst it’s still too early to say for sure, this teaser looks very promising, with the creative team seemingly capturing the tone and feel of Pullman’s complex, imaginative and oft dark world. With a second series, covering the events of The Subtle Knife, already commissioned, His Dark Materials seems well placed to fill the void left by Game of Thrones.
His Dark Materials hits our screens later this year.
