The Golden Compass' Popularity Surges in Weeks Leading up to the New Line Cinema Film's Dec. 7 Worldwide Release

The Golden Compass' Popularity Surges in Weeks Leading up to the New Line Cinema Film's Dec. 7 Worldwide Release

Books Climb USA Today's 'Top 50 Bestselling Books List' More Than 10 Years After Publication; Close To 10 Million Visitors View Movie's Official Web Site

NEW YORK, Nov. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- More than ten years after its original publication, "The Golden Compass" (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children's Books) has hit USA Today's Top 50 Best Sellers list, having seen a 500% increase in sales over the last three months. The omnibus edition of Philip Pullman's complete "His Dark Materials" trilogy -- of which "The Golden Compass" is the first novel -- has moved onto USA Today's Top 50 list as well. "The Golden Compass" has sold over 3.5 million copies in the US to date, and the trilogy has sold over 7 million copies.

With the upcoming worldwide release of New Line Cinema's highly anticipated feature film on December 7, the film's official web site (http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/) has received nearly 10 million unique visitors. Plus the movie website has an innovative "Daemon" feature that has garnered more than 20 million views. The film's trailers have been streamed over 10 million times online.

Late this summer, Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy went back on the "Book Sense National Best Seller List" for "Children's Fiction Series," and has since spent 19 consecutive weeks on that list, which is compiled from hundreds of independent book stores across the US.

The film has received early critical acclaim in the United Kingdom with a four-star review from one of the country's leading national newspapers "The Guardian" which calls it a "spectacular new movie ... It has no other challengers as this year's big Christmas movie."

Written and directed by Chris Weitz, "The Golden Compass" stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.

    CONTACT:    Robert Pini                    Judith Haut    New Line Cinema                Random House    212-649-4934                   212-782-8626  

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Source: New Line Cinema

CONTACT: Robert Pini of New Line Cinema, +1-212-649-4934; or Judith Haut
of Random House, +1-212-782-8626

Web Site: http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment