George R.R. Martin cited this movie as one of the reasons he wanted Game of Thrones (2011) to be turned into a television series rather than a movie.
Years after the film's release, director Chris Weitz revealed that despite him being a fan of the books, making the movie was a "terrible experience" for him because New Line Cinema constantly interfered. Weitz's original script had a much slower pace, allowing for more world-building, character development, and exposition. The studio forced him to scrap elements that weren't immediately essential to the plot and tone down the religious subtext. They also overruled several casting decisions and took over editing to get the running time under two hours, which necessitated re-shoots and the re-arranging of several other scenes to make the film coherent again. The most radical intervention was removing the original downbeat ending from the final cut, intending to use it as the opening of a proposed sequel (which never happened).
The name "Serafina Pekkala" originated when Sir Philip Pullman browsed through a Finnish telephone directory.
Sir Philip Pullman, author of the "His Dark Materials" trilogy, originally wanted Jason Isaacs to play Lord Asriel, Nicole Kidman to play Mrs. Coulter, and Samuel L. Jackson to play Lee Scoresby.