Growing up, I loved the Narnia and Lord of the Rings books. I’ve reread them several times throughout my life, and still enjoy them. I gave Harry Potter and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials a try, but wasn’t exactly blown away. arry just bored me and I gave up after a couple hundred pages. I finished The Golden Compass, but didn’t bother with the sequels.
That said, in the right hands, the His Dark Materials books would probably make compelling films. I was surprised to read (via Bill), however, that the film’s producers have opted to can one of the 20th century’s finest dramatists:
“As far as I was made aware, New Line Cinema and Philip Pullman all liked it. Then Chris Weitz got the job. And he likes to write his own scripts,” said Stoppard.
While he refused to be drawn on how he felt, the news may well dismay legions of Pullman fans who have voiced concerns that Weitz is taking over scripting. Weitz’s previous work includes the hugely successful – albeit “gross out” – American teen comedy American Pie.
Stoppard wrote, among others, Brazil, Empire of the Sun and Shakespeare in Love. He’s also an extremely accomplished playwright. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is one of the most important plays of the past forty years. Tough break for the Pullman fans, eh?
DarrenBarefoot.com 
I think we should congratulate Mr. Stoppard for all the time he now has available to write more plays, and all the money he has to spend whilst doing so.
I loved Dark Materials: read the first one in a day and had to go buy the rest immediately. I didn’t get much sleep until I’d finished the last chapter of the last book, and even then wanted to keep reading. I love it when that happens.
Who would can Stoppard in favor of the American Pie screenwriter?? Sure, it was a fine movie, but that doesn’t mean he’s the right guy for this job… I suppose I shouldn’t judge his suitability based on one movie. I guess this is the litmus test.