William Donohue is one of those guys who makes me glad I figured out at an early age that the Catholic Church is not for me. I've been expecting this from the minute a film version of the first book in Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy was announced, and now, according to IMDb, here it comes:
Two months before the scheduled release of New Line Cinema's The Golden Compass, the Catholic League has launched an all-out assault on the fantasy film. The League, the largest Catholic lay organization in the U.S., has produced a 25-page pamphlet, titled "The Golden Compass: Unmasked," that it is selling on its website for $5.00 per copy, which damns the film as a pernicious effort to indoctrinate children into atheistic beliefs. Acknowledging that the film itself is unlikely to contain offensive material, Catholic League President Bill Donohue said in a statement, "If unsuspecting Christian parents take their children to see the movie, they may very well find it engaging and then buy Pullman's books for Christmas. That's the problem. We are fighting a deceitful stealth campaign on the part of the film's producers." Pullman has acknowledged his anti-religious stance but critics have said that his books present little that is likely to offend believers.
Notice that the CL is using the move, and its attendant publicity, as a fundraising tool. (Hmmm, moneychangers in the temple, anyone?) And it's hardly coincidental that the announcement was timed to the release of the latest trailer for the movie.*
And, of course, the movie is highly unlikely to include any offensive material: Not only did Pullman not start making his subtext (anti religious, but not anti-spiritual) truly stand out until the second book in the trilogy, "The Subtle Knife", but filmmaker Chris Weitz - yes, the "American Pie" guy - stated early on in the screenwriting process that he intended to tone down the controversial material, even removing references to "the Church" (in the movie, it's called "the Magisterium")
Ah, well, if religious controversies didn't exist, Bill Donohue would have to invent them. Well, actually, that's exactly what he does.
Note: I don't anticipate enjoying the movie all that much. I think it's clear from the trailers that they were scared of antagonizing religious folks, and have, in addition, dumbed down certain other aspects of the story. Lot of good it did them.