The news that director Chris Weitz has resigned from the job of turning Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials into a film because of the trilogy's "technical challenges" will be met with sage nods from anyone familiar with the novels' cast list of angels, talking bears, hand-height warriors and shape-shifting daemons. Weitz's shoes have been filled by British director Anand Tucker - best known for his biopic of Jacqueline Du Pre, Hilary and Jackie - who describes himself as "a huge fan" of Pullman's work.

As the books have already been adapted successfully for the stage, and the film is being produced by New Line, the studio responsible for the critic-pleasing, Oscar-winning adaptation of JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, there seems little doubt that Tucker will find a way to negotiate the technical challenges which the trilogy presents. But audiences may find themselves concerned with the content of the films as well as the special effects.

Weitz, who plans to continue working on the film as a scriptwriter, has already ruffled feathers by choosing to remove all references to religion from the film - presumably to boost its Stateside marketability - despite the fact that these form the very backbone of the books.

The adaptation of Pullman's work for the big screen is part of a trend in cinema at the moment to turn works of fantasy into high-concept films (Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter have already made the transition; CS Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will be in cinemas from December; Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is currently being adapted by Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton). But is it really worth going to the bother of adapting them if anything controversial ends up on the cutting room floor?