CANNES, France - Move over, Gandalf and Frodo. After "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, New Line Cinema is betting that armored polar bears and flying witches will be the next big thing.

Reporters at the Cannes Film Festival watched a preview of 10 vivid minutes of footage from "The Golden Compass," a $180 million digital fantasy to be released worldwide on Dec. 7. The studio used the same sneak peek strategy at Cannes with the first "Lord of the Rings" installment in 2001.