New Line spent $180M on a trilogy-starter and shelved the next two films indefinitely

New Line Cinema adapted Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, starting with The Golden Compass, on a production budget of about $180 million, explicitly planning two further films to complete the story across a multi-year franchise.

Marketing faced sustained controversy from religious groups over the source material's themes, complicating the film's promotional campaign in the crucial US market even as international marketing proceeded largely unaffected.

The film earned a strong $370-375 million worldwide, but its US domestic total came to only about $70 million against the $180 million budget — a weak enough performance in New Line's most important market that the studio put the two planned sequels on indefinite hold, a decision the 2008 economic downturn later hardened into cancellation.