Several key themes of the novels, such as the rejection of religion and the abuse of power in a fictionalised version of the Church, were diluted in the adaptation. Director Weitz said that "in the books the Magisterium is a version of the Catholic Church gone wildly astray from its roots", but that the organisation portrayed in his film would not directly match that of Pullman's books. Instead, the Magisterium represents all dogmatic organisations. Weitz said New Line Cinema had feared the story's anti-religious themes would make the film financially unviable in the US, and so religion and God ("The Authority" in the books) would not be referenced directly.