The movie, based on the first of a popular series of books in the "His Dark Materials" series by Philip Pullman, promises to appeal to the same group that ate up the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and the first of the "Narnia" movies.
"The Golden Compass," about a young girl transported to a mysterious parallel universe populated by armored polar bears, should capture many of the same fans who made "Narnia" a hit.
"The Golden Compass' is looking to go after the 'Narnia' crowd and big fantasy films with lots of special effects have worked at the end of the year. So this has potential," said Pandya of BoxOfficeGuru.
The film also features some big box-office draws in Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig (aka the blonde Bond). And New Line, which like CNNMoney.com is owned by Time Warner, is so confident that the film will be a hit that it has already ordered up options on the remaining two books in Pullman's trilogy.
But New Line better hope that this is the next "Lord of the Rings" and not the next "Eragon," an adaptation of another popular fantasy book that flopped at the box office last year.
