Eye of the Duck

New Line saw none of that money – it was a financial decision so catastrophic that the studio collapsed, and any plans to make the sequels evaporated

Most people assume THE GOLDEN COMPASS (2007) was a flop, but in fact it more than doubled its budget!

The problem: to help finance the film, New Line Cinema pre-sold international distribution rights... where the movie ended up earning over 80% of its box office.

Get more from Eye of the Duck on Patreon A Podcast about Movies and the Scenes that make them special.

Also on the docket is A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS and the return of SCRUBS.

And just maybe, just maybe, there's a little Ogre in all of us.

Find it here: www.patreon.com/EyeoftheDuck...

Dom’s back! Just in time for the film industry to consolidate itself into oblivion!

This week on After Hours, the news is all bad, but at least the band's back together! Dom gives us his thoughts on SEND HELP, and Adam braves the Ghostface Killer in SCREAM 7.

TRADED OUR GOLD RING FOR A GOLDEN COMPASS

Why do you think it is we keep bringing you on??

The Golden Compass (2007) Podcast Episode · Eye of the Duck: A Film Podcast · March 2 · 2h 30m

Attempting to replicate the success of THE LORD OF THE RINGS, New Line Cinema tries to kick off a new trilogy by adapting Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, but it… doesn’t quite work out. @stephenhilger.bsky.social returns to help us figure out why!

This steampunk fantasy world has everything: dæmons, talking polar bears, Daniel Craig with a snow leopard, and Nicole Kidman in her villain era!

That's right, we're talking THE GOLDEN COMPASS!

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵——>

If you’ve never met the armored, talking polar bear voiced by Ian McKellen (yes, that’s real!), you can find this (extremely) big budget adaptation of the beloved children’s novel on Blu-ray/DVD or any of these VOD platforms: justwatch.com/us/movie/the-golden-compass

Next week on 𝐄𝐘𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐊:

The Golden Compass (2007)
Dir. Chris Weitz

Sometimes a movie is so well received that it inspires a whole wave of new films.

And sometimes a movie flops so hard that it stops the wave dead.

This movie is the latter.

He’s on ALL our shit lists

SPOILER for STARDUST (a 19 year old movie)

To create the effect of drowning in midair, the filmmakers shot Mark Strong floating in a water tank against a bluescreen, then they composited the footage into the scene and used VFX to remove the air bubbles and safety wires

Get more from Eye of the Duck on Patreon A Podcast about Movies and the Scenes that make them special.

Also in our lock box it's the return of Gore Verbinski with GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON'T DIE, a throwback to 1974's THE GAMBLER, and an exploration of film students' movie watching habits, with resident Young Person and Eye: MF Researcher, Parth Marathe

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Get in loser, we're driving down the 101 and stealing heavily insured jewels in a polite and non-violent way – it's CRIME 101 week on the pod!

We’re Sky Pirates this week

Stardust (2007) Podcast Episode · Eye of the Duck: A Film Podcast · February 23 · 2h 10m

Listen here:

Come for the breezy fantasy, stay for Robert De Niro actively trying to speed run himself out of the movie – it's STARDUST!

Our very own Sky Pirate, Stephen Hilger, returns to help us drag Claire Danes across the land so that we can prove ourselves to Sienna Miller. Ya know, normal fantasy stuff!

With the blizzard coming, remember: if you're cold, they're cold. Take them inside.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵——>

If you’ve never gone flying with sky pirate Robert De Niro, you can find this blockbuster adaptation of *uncontrollable coughing*’s fantasy novel on Blu-ray/DVD or any of these VOD platforms: justwatch.com/us/movie/stardust

Next week on 𝐄𝐘𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐊:

Stardust (2007)
Dir. Matthew Vaughn

Long before he was Daredevil, Charlie Cox went on a quest to find a falling star (in the form of Claire Danes) in this underrated fantasy gem

Also, Michelle Pfeiffer!

This is my fault and I’m not remotely sorry

Authorized episode logo for Alan Wake, featuring Alan Wake

OUT NOW! Filmmaker and @eyeoftheduckpod.com host @adamvole.com joins again to discuss Alan Wake. As with Death Stranding, a confusing game becomes no more comprehensible in prose form. Luckily, a book needn't be fun to read for our purposes, just fun to talk about. Listen: shorturl.at/lDZ45

Doug Jones was del Toro’s first choice for the faun in Pan’s Labyrinth. The only problem: he didn’t speak Spanish.

The plan was to dub the voice, but his mouth needed to match the vocals, and Jones wanted Baquero to have something to act against — so he learned to speak all his lines phonetically.

Our episode: *half the runtime talking about our new favorite comedy, plus the buzziest movie of the weekend and a campy crime hit*

Our discord: “ANN LEE! ANN LEE! ANN LEE!”

Ugh damn, we spelled Ann Lee wrong

Also in the queue this week: Emerald Fennel's divisive "WUTHERING HEIGHTS," a pair of god-tier Amanda Seyfried performances in THE TESTAMENT OF ANNE LEE, and believe it or not, Paul Feig's THE HOUSEMAID, and Peacock's buddy spy comedic thriller, PONIES!

It's Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie The Podcast Episode! This week we hop in the RV, travel back to 2008, and try to book a gig at the Rivoli!

We must all live with our choices every day

Pan's Labyrinth (2006) Podcast Episode · Eye of the Duck: A Film Podcast · 02/16/2026 · 2h 56m

Listen here:

This Labyrinth has everything: a dude with eyeballs in his hands, a sassy faun, a big ass toad, and bugs that are also fairies!

This week our guest host, good friend, and Joe Dirt expert Stephen Hilger helps us get lost in dark heart of Guillermo del Toro's PAN'S LABYRINTH!