Entertainment
Sci-Fi Steampunk Fantasy Adventure Failed To Start The Next Big Franchise Streaming For Free
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Sci-fi is often a hard sell at the box office. The only genre that’s harder is fantasy, and steampunk fantasy adventure never seems to work. That didn’t stop New Line Cinema from adapting The Golden Compass by Sir Philip Pullman into a big-budget blockbuster adventure stacked with an A-list cast and a marketing campaign to match. It was, as you can imagine, a financial disaster despite earning over $350 million. The movie also pulled off the rare feat of pushing away both fans of the source material and critics of the books at the same time.
Buckle Up, The Golden Compass Gets Complex
The Golden Compass takes place on an Earth where everyone’s soul exists outside of their body as a Daemon. Taking the form of animals, Daemons have to be in close proximity to the person. This world is also under the control of the Magisterium, an authoritative church that actively suppresses any and all dissent. Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) is bequeathed a magical device called the alethiometer, or symbol-reader, or the titular Golden Compass, that can detect the truth. Needless to say, the Magisterium wants it.
There’s also the problem of the Dust, strange cosmic particle that links to different worlds, and by its very existence, proves the Magisterium is wrong about everything. Lyra’s adventure staying one step ahead of the Magisterium while trying to learn the truth of the world around her includes a never-ending parade of characters, including Ian McKellen voicing Iorek, the armored bear all over the marketing, Ian McShane as King Ragnar of the Panserbjorne (the ice bears), Daniel Craig as Lyra’s uncle, Nicole Kidman as the evil Marisa Coultier, and a pair of castings that are so on the noise its parody: Sam Elliot as a Texan cowboy aeronaut and Eva Green as a witch.
There’s a lot that The Golden Compass crams into an hour and 53 minutes, and it still managed to butcher the original novel.
Angered Both Fans And Critics Of The Novels
Sir Philip Pullman’s trilogy, His Dark Materials, carries a heavy anti-religious message that was dramatically toned down for the film. That angered long-time fans of his fantasy world, and still didn’t appease the Catholic Church, which publicly went after the film months before it was released, not because of the watered-down film, but because it would encourage reading of the original novels.
The Golden Compass was supposed to be the start of a trilogy adapting all of the novels, but after it crashed and burned in the U.S., plans changed. Chris Weitz, the director of Twilight: New Moon and a co-writer of Rogue One, did his best with everything handed to him and internationally, the film was a hit, earning over $300 million. The issue is that the $70 million stateside destroyed New Line Cinema’s investment. Due to the complex web of Hollywood negotiation rights, the studio didn’t get a cent of the international box office haul.
Fantasy Is Always A Tough Sell
Blockbuster fantasy has since been confined to streaming with the rise and fall and rise of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. The same turned out to be true for His Dark Materials, a BBC adaptation of the novels that managed to get out all three series and remained significantly closer to the novels than the Hollywood film.. Sir Philip Pullman recently concluded a companion trilogy to His Dark Materials, The Book of Dust, that runs both before, and after Lyra’s journey.
The Golden Compass is available to stream for free on Tubi, Plex, and Sling TV.
Entertainment
NYT Strands hints, answers for July 19, 2026
Today’s NYT Strands hints are easy if you like things large.
Strands, the New York Times‘ elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There’s always a theme linking every solution, along with the “spangram,” a special, word or phrase that sums up that day’s theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.
By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.
If you’re feeling stuck or just don’t have 10 or more minutes to figure out today’s puzzle, we’ve got all the NYT Strands hints for today’s puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.
NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Big talk
The words are related to size.
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Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained
These words describe large things.
NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?
Today’s NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.
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NYT Strands spangram answer today
Today’s spangram is Supersize it.
NYT Strands word list for July 19
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Giant
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Behemoth
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Leviathan
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Mammoth
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Colossum
Looking for other daily online games? Mashable’s Games page has more hints, and if you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now!
Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Strands.
Entertainment
Wordle today: Answer, hints for July 19, 2026
Today’s Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you like to make food from scratch.
If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
Where did Wordle come from?
Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
What’s the best Wordle starting word?
The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?
The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.
Is Wordle getting harder?
It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.
Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:
A way to make butter.
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Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?
There are no recurring letters.
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Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…
Today’s Wordle starts with the letter C.
The Wordle answer today is…
Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to today’s Wordle is…
CHURN
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.
Entertainment
Hurdle hints and answers for July 19, 2026
If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.
There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.
An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.
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If you find yourself stuck at any step of today’s Hurdle, don’t worry! We have you covered.
Hurdle Word 1 hint
Rode over.
Hurdle Word 1 answer
DROVE
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Hurdle Word 2 hint
Salt water.
Hurdle Word 2 Answer
BRINE
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Hurdle Word 3 hint
Bombardment.
Hurdle Word 3 answer
BLITZ
Hurdle Word 4 hint
Fabric.
Hurdle Word 4 answer
CLOTH
Final Hurdle hint
Tunes.
Hurdle Word 5 answer
MUSIC
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
NYT Strands hints, answers for July 19, 2026
Wordle today: Answer, hints for July 19, 2026
