Atlas Shrugged: Part I: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→Release: 25 film theaters
Revert - source is inherently non-neutral (See WP:NPOV); these "reviews" are inherently promotional and therefore violate Wikipedia policy WP:PROMOTION
Line 75: Line 75:
==Release==
==Release==
''Atlas Shrugged: Part 1'' is scheduled to be released on April 15, 2011. The initial release will be limited to 25 film theaters nationwide.<ref>{{cite web | title= Theaters & Tickets | url= http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com/theaters | publisher= ''Atlas Shrugged: Part I'' Official Web Site | date= 2011 | accessdate=2011-03-16}}</ref> The trailer was released on YouTube on February 11, 2011.<ref name="trailer" />
''Atlas Shrugged: Part 1'' is scheduled to be released on April 15, 2011. The initial release will be limited to 25 film theaters nationwide.<ref>{{cite web | title= Theaters & Tickets | url= http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com/theaters | publisher= ''Atlas Shrugged: Part I'' Official Web Site | date= 2011 | accessdate=2011-03-16}}</ref> The trailer was released on YouTube on February 11, 2011.<ref name="trailer" />

==Reception==
Upon seeing a preview of the film, [[David Weigel]] of ''[[Slate.com]]'' concluded that it was "not as bad as [[libertarian]]s had feared it would be":<ref>[[David Weigel|Weigel, David]] (2011-03-03) [http://www.slate.com/id/2287075/pagenum/all/ Libertarians Shrugged], ''[[Slate.com]]''</ref>

<blockquote>
Most of the dialogue clunks. . . . It's supposed to clunk. The book doesn't sell millions of copies because it's subtle. It sells because it offers a fully formed philosophy of reason and self-interest, much of it in a speech by Galt. . . . So the movie doesn't work as drama; as allegory, it works about as well as the Randians could want it to. . . . If this movie breaks big, or even if it gets an afterlife on Netflix, will it make as many converts as the novel? Doubtful; Rand's gospel of selfishness works better on the page than on film. This installment of the movie ends with Dagny hiking up Wyatt's property to see the oil wells he set ablaze when he left to join Galt. He left a sign, daring the bureaucrats to take it over: "I'm leaving it as I found it." But he's not leaving it as he found it. He bought mineral rights, made a profit, and left the land with a lot less oil and a few more towering infernos. This may be a sign that Aglialoro and Kaslow made a successful allegory: It's open to an interpretation that they never intended.
</blockquote>

Judge [[Alex Kozinski]] of the [[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit]]<ref name=Gibberish>[[Matt Welch|Welch, Matt]] (2011-03-03) [http://reason.com/blog/2011/03/03/atlas-shrugged-spectacularly-g Atlas Shrugged: "spectacularly good" or "incomprehensible gibberish"?], ''[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]''</ref>

<blockquote>
was convinced Atlas Shrugged could not be put on film, but this movie proved me wrong. It has a contemporary look and feel, while retaining the Art Deco elegance of Rand's novel. The acting is superb, particularly Taylor Schilling as Dagny Taggart and Grant Bowler as Hank Rearden. Bowler manages to cram more meaning into a half-cocked eyebrow than most actors in a dozen lines of dialogue, and Shilling captures the sleek, cold elegance of Dagny, while giving just a hint of the passion simmering beneath the surface. Indeed, all the performances are impeccable.
</blockquote>

Rand biographer [[Barbara Branden]] was "delighted, overwhelmed, and stunned" by the film, and wrote that "[t]he movie is not so-so, it is not OK, it is not rather good — it is spectacularly good. . . . To a remarkable degree, the movie captures the spirit, the sense of life, that was Ayn Rand's alone."<ref name=Gibberish/>


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 22:54, 17 March 2011

Atlas Shrugged: Part I
Directed byPaul Johansson
Written byBrian Patrick O'Toole
Produced byJohn Aglialoro
Harmon Kaslow
Bruce Wayne Gillies
StarringTaylor Schilling
Grant Bowler
Music byElia Cmiral
Release date
  • April 15, 2011 (2011-04-15)
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish

Atlas Shrugged: Part I is an upcoming 2011 film adaptation of Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged, intended as the first in a film trilogy encompassing the entire 1,368-page book. After various treatments and proposals floundered in development hell for nearly 40 years,[1] investor John Aglialoro initiated production in June 2010. The film was directed by Paul Johansson and stars Taylor Schilling as Dagny Taggart and Grant Bowler as Hank Rearden.

Atlas Shrugged explores a dystopian United States where leading innovators, ranging from industrialists to artists, refuse to be exploited by society. The protagonist, Dagny Taggart, sees society collapse around her as the government increasingly asserts control over all industry (including Taggart Transcontinental, the once mighty transcontinental railroad for which she serves as the operating executive), while society's most productive citizens, led by the mysterious John Galt, progressively disappear. Galt describes the strike as "stopping the motor of the world" by withdrawing the "minds" that drive society's growth and productivity. In their efforts, these "men of the mind" hope to demonstrate that a world in which the individual is not free to create is doomed, that civilization cannot exist where men are slave to society and government, and that the destruction of the profit motive leads to the collapse of society.

Cast

See also: List of Atlas Shrugged characters

Production

Development

In 1972, Albert S. Ruddy approached Rand to produce a cinematic adaptation of Atlas Shrugged. Rand insisted on having final script approval, which Ruddy refused to give her, thus preventing a deal. In 1978, Henry and Michael Jaffe negotiated a deal for an eight-hour Atlas Shrugged television miniseries on NBC. Michael Jaffe hired screenwriter Sterling Silliphant to adapt the novel and he obtained approval from Rand on the final script. However, in 1979, with Fred Silverman's rise as president of NBC, the project was scrapped.[4]

Rand, a former Hollywood screenwriter herself, began writing her own screenplay, but died in 1982 with only one third of it finished. She left her estate, including the film rights to Atlas Shrugged, to her student Leonard Peikoff, who sold an option to Michael Jaffe and Ed Snider. Peikoff would not approve the script they wrote and the deal fell through. In 1992, investor John Aglialoro bought an option to produce the film, paying Peikoff over $1 million for full creative control.[4]

In 1999, under John Aglialoro's sponsorship, Albert Ruddy negotiated a deal with Turner Network Television for a four-hour miniseries, but the project was killed after the AOL Time Warner merger. After the TNT deal fell through Howard and Karen Baldwin obtained the rights while running Phillip Anschutz's Crusader Entertainment. The Baldwins left Crusader and formed Baldwin Entertainment Group in 2004, taking the rights to Atlas Shrugged with them. Michael Burns of Lions Gate Entertainment approached the Baldwins to fund and distribute Atlas Shrugged.[4] A two-part draft screenplay written by James V. Hart[5] was re-written into a 127-page screenplay by Randall Wallace, with Vadim Perelman expected to direct.[6] Potential cast members for this production had included Angelina Jolie,[7] Charlize Theron,[8] Julia Roberts,[8] Anne Hathaway,[8] Russell Crowe,[9] and Brad Pitt.[5] Subsequent developments cast doubt on the participation of some of these individuals, although the resurgence of public interest in the novel seemed to be attracting additional funding.[10]

Writing

In May 2010, Brian Patrick O'Toole and Aglialoro wrote a screenplay, intent on filming in June 2010. While initial rumors claimed that the films would have a "timeless" setting, later information revealed that they would instead be set in the year 2016, with a dystopian United States suffering economically amid greater calls for collectivism and government intervention.[citation needed] Other noted changes included reductions for some characters and side stories, such as that of Eddie Willers, and removal of others, such as that of composer Richard Halley.[citation needed]

Casting

Though director Johansson has been reported by various sources as playing the pivotal role of John Galt,[11] he made it clear in an interview that with regard to "who is John Galt" in the film, the answer was, "Not me."[2] He explained that his portrayal of the character would be limited to the first film as a silhouetted figure wearing a trenchcoat and fedora,[3] suggesting that another actor will be cast as Galt for the subsequent parts of the trilogy.

Filming

Though Stephen Polk was initially set to direct,[12] he was replaced by Paul Johansson nine days before filming was scheduled to begin. With the 18-year-long option to the films rights set to expire on June 15, 2010, producer Aglialoro began principal photography on June 13, 2010, thus managing to retain the rights. Shooting took five weeks and came in on a budget over US$5 million.[citation needed]

Score

Elia Cmiral will be composing the score for the first film.[13]

Release

Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 is scheduled to be released on April 15, 2011. The initial release will be limited to 25 film theaters nationwide.[14] The trailer was released on YouTube on February 11, 2011.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ Britting, Jeff (2009). "Bringing Atlas Shrugged to Film". In Mayhew, Robert (ed.). Essays on Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-7391-2780-3.
  2. ^ a b Murty, Govindini (July 21, 2010). "EXCLUSIVE: LFM Visits the Set of Atlas Shrugged + Director Paul Johansson's First Interview About the Film". Libertas Film Magazine. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
  3. ^ a b c "Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 - Official Movie Trailer".
  4. ^ a b c Brown, Kimberly (January 14, 2007). "Ayn Rand No Longer Has Script Approval". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  5. ^ a b McClintock, Pamela (April 26, 2006). "Lionsgate Shrugging". Variety. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  6. ^ Fleming, Michael (September 4, 2007). "Vadim Perelman to direct 'Atlas'". Variety. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  7. ^ "Angelina Jolie set to star in Atlas Shrugged". Objectivistcenter.org. 2006-09-21. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  8. ^ a b c "Charlize Theron Could Topline Atlas Shrugged Mini-Series | /Film". Slashfilm.com. 2009-07-21. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  9. ^ Paris, Susan (February 25, 2008). "John Aglialoro on the Atlas Shrugged Movie". Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  10. ^ Zeitchik, Steven. "With 'Atlas Shrugged,' Hollywood may have its first anti-bailout movie". Risky Business Blog. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2009-05-06. [dead link]
  11. ^ "Atlas Shrugged" (2011) Internet Movie Database.
  12. ^ Fleming, Mike (May 26, 2010). "'Atlas Shrugged' Rights Holder Sets June Production Start Whether Or Not Stars Align". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2010-05-28.
  13. ^ Atlas Shrugged Movie: The First 10 Minutes
  14. ^ "Theaters & Tickets". Atlas Shrugged: Part I Official Web Site. 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-16. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Atlas_Shrugged:_Part_I&oldid=419375456"