8 Movies That Inspired Online Protests

What They Said: “If you are a Christian, you should not encourage your children to see The Golden Compass or get involved in Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials. The message is Anti-God and Anti-Christian and should not be supported with our money.”

Concerned that Chris Weitz’s adaptation of Pullman’s book would “undermine the basis of Christian belief”, religious groups led by the Catholic League urged their supporters to instead read their booklet The Golden Compass: Agenda Unmasked, which exposed Pullman’s “anti-Catholic bigotry.” It sold 25,000 copies.

What Happened: Though the film took $372 worldwide, it made only $70 million in the US, where it was considered a massive flop. The Catholic League was quick to take full credit.

“Even our adversaries begrudgingly concede we were victorious,” they wrote. “The movie did so poorly that after two weeks it took $4 million less than Alvin And The chipmunks did in one weekend!”