Continuity mistake: During the dinner where she first meets Mrs. Coulter, Lyra's drink changes color from deep red to a reddish orange between shots.
Continuity mistake: When Lyra is walking through the palace to meet King Ragnar of the Ice Bears, there are a great many bears all around her, with a few following her right up to the king. She gets to the king, and when the shot pans out to the hall, suddenly all the other bears are gone. Even if they all left the hall, it would take more than a second or two to do so.
Answer: The first film made too small a profit and failed to resonate with its targeted youth audience. The global financial crisis of 2007-08 was also a factor in deciding to cancel the sequels, and New Line Cinema, the company that produced "The Golden Compass", instead put its resources into the ongoing "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
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