Rama’s SCREEN

I wasn’t too impressed by The Golden Compass (You can find out why by reading my review on the movie)
According the Independent, the plan for Golden Compass trilogy may not happen after all.
The initial plan was to continue the story because it did sorta end on a cliffhanger and it’s based on author Philip Pullman’s children’s fantasy trilogy “His Dark Materials.”

The studio responsible for the first film was refusing to discuss the future of the trilogy.The studio blames the Christian protests that led to the boycott.
Excuses, excuses… A bunch of Hindu groups wanted to boycott The Love Guru but the fact of the matters is that the movie’s not all that. Same thing with Golden Compass, it was not a well-made Holiday movie.
Has it ever crossed their minds that maybe the reason the movie didn’t do well in the box office was because people watched it, didn’t like it, and it spreads like wildfire by word of mouth…. or online blogs like this one.

The Golden Compass cost $180 million to make, but brought in only $70 million domestically. New Line Cinema considers the film a failure even though it was able to earn over $300 million internationally. New Line is absorbed by Warner Bros.

The plot of the three books revolves around a fantasy world where the Reformation has never happened. This parallel universe of talking animals and witches is ruled by an oppressive Catholic institution known as the Magisterium. The challenges to religious institutions become more confrontational with every book in the trilogy, culminating with a war on heaven. Weitz, an American-born Cambridge graduate, has been vociferous in his passion for Pullman’s original text, insisting on staying “true” to the trilogy if or when sequels are made. This outspokenness may have added to the studio’s wariness.

Pullman said protests in America had done little to help its release, with parents protesting against the allegorical challenges to the Catholic faith. “There was a lot of fuss over that,” he said.

When I watched the movie last year, I tried to review it by judging its quality (story, visual, acting, directing, etc.)
Not so much whether or not it was blasphemous. I leave that to your own opinion, for yourself to judge.
I’ve never read the book, but the director seems to be determined to stay true to it.
I don’t remember Christian Protests caused this much damage to the movie The Da Vinci Code.

What do you think about this?
Do you really think the Christians protests have that much influence?
Should there be a Golden Compass Sequel?
What if the atheism part the story got toned down a bit, would that be okay then?