Any references to "God" or religion have been cut from the film adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy.
This is a serious tragedy, people. These are some of the most important and amazing books I have ever read, and to remove religion as a CENTRAL theme to them is raping the books of what makes them the most meaningful and thought provoking. The decision was made to remove religion and "God" because New Line expressed concern over marketing the films in George Bush’s America. Where, evidently, no one has ever heard of the First Amendment or separation of Church and State.
on the one hand, that totally freaks me out - talk about screwing with freedom of expression! Ugh. I’m totally disgusted.
On the other hand, I didn’t realize the stories were being adapted at all, and I have to say that the man who directed About a Boy did such a fucking fantastic job, that I’d rather have the books with him than with … well… Peter Jackson, or any other major director i respect. It’s incredibly hard to do book to film anyway, and get the nuances right…