If you don't know what an alethiometer is, you haven't read His Dark Materials, a trilogy by Philip Pullman. But don't worry! Now you don't have to! The movie of the first book, The Golden Compass is currently in production and scheduled for release December 2007. And to make that news even more exciting is the news that the film will star Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.

I was wondering how they were going to get around the controversial elements of the book, but now I see how. The children are kidnapped and experimented upon by a "mysterious organization." In the trilogy, the evil "mysterious organization" is the church, though I don't recall Pullman calling out a specific religion.

His Dark Materials was one of my very favorite trilogies. Next Christmas will be a good time at the movies.....