Nicole Kidman is in final negotiations to star in "The Golden Compass," New Line Cinema's $150 million adaptation of the first installment of author Philip Pullman's best-selling "His Dark Materials" trilogy reports the trades.
Dakota Blue Richards already has been cast as Lyra, a girl who discovers she is at the heart of a hideous conspiracy and that the fate of many children rests with her. She embarks on a journey to the far north to save her best friend and encounters shape-shifting creatures, witches and a variety of otherworldly characters.
Chris Weitz is directing the film in which Kidman will play Mrs. Coulter, a sinister scholar and socialite with a mysterious past who has a secret link to Lyra. Shooting begins at London's Shepperton Studios in September for a release November 2007.
