Witches have certainly gotten a better publicist in the last decade or so. They’ve leapt from the ancient image of the crooked crone to the sexy spell-casters seen in The Craft or Buffy.
And now they’re getting a sexy new representative in the form of Eva Green. The Kingdom Of Heaven actress is leaping from the just-finished Casino Royale to The Golden Compass.
You already know the story – in a parallel universe, young Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) searches for a kidnapped friend and tries to escape the evil Mrs Coulter (Nicole Kidman). Lyra will have some help in her journey from Serafina Pekkala, the queen of witches. She’s signed for this one film, with an option for two more should the trilogy be completed.
Chris Weitz is busy marshalling his troops and the adaptation of Philip Pullman’s first novel starts shooting next month at Shepperton.