On February 11, 2002, following the success of New Line's "", the studio bought the rights to Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy. In July 2003, Tom Stoppard was commissioned to write the screenplay. Directors Brett Ratner and Sam Mendes expressed interest in the film, but a year later, Chris Weitz was hired to direct after approaching the studio with an unsolicited 40-page treatment. The studio rejected the script, asking Weitz to start from scratch. Since Weitz was an admirer of Stoppard's work, he decided not to read the adaptation in case he "subconsciously poached things from him." After delivering his script, Weitz cited "Barry Lyndon" and "Star Wars" as stylistic influences on the film. In 2004, Weitz was invited by "The Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson onto the set of "King Kong" (2005) in order to gather information on directing a big-budget film, and to receive advice on dealing with New Line Cinema, for whom Jackson had worked on "Lord of the Rings". After a subsequent interview in which Weitz said the novel's attacks on organised religion would have to be softened, he was criticised by some fans, and on December 15, 2004, Weitz announced his resignation as director of the trilogy, citing the enormous technical challenges of the epic. He later indicated that he had envisioned the possibility of being denounced by both the book's fans and its detractors, as well as a studio hoping for another "Lord of the Rings".