hahahahahaha Atlas Shrugged is being made into a movie! with Angelina Jolie! [EDIT: actually not anymore! oh well!]

ha, i know what you mean, but yeah, that's unfair. lars is a humanist. he just doesn't like people very much. but dogville is really kind of an anti-anthem.

Re: LOWENDBRO & "mutally exclusivism," Nietzsche & Marxism can coexist quite easily if you follow the literature into the Nietzsche-influenced post-Marxists like Louis Althusser & Alain Badiou (the fucking MAN).

http://common.swankmp.com/movie_titles/images/incredibles.jpg

I bet this film totally blows, but in a non-entertaining manner. Rand was a crashing bore.

They should make a film based on that steve ditko objectivist superhero comic - Mr A, was it? That would be hilarious.

Also, it must be noted that Rand's influence is far more keenly felt on the Internet than it is IRL. Randians do love to post on message boards and blog threads.

zaxxon25, I totally agree with you. The Incredibles creaped me out.

WHY DOES OUR SOCIETY CRUSH EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE?!?! OMG, THERE'S NO WHERE FOR PEOPLE WITH TALLENT AND WILL TO GO. DAMN THE COMMON HERD! DAMN THE SOCIALISTS RUNNING THIS COUNTRY!

Why do so many people identify with this movie?

I find the idea that these books are thrilling far more ridiculous than that they have anything in common with Nietzsche.

http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/102306/ayn-rand.gif

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117971319.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Vadim Perelman to direct 'Atlas'
Jolie to star in Lionsgate's Ayn Rand adaptation
By MICHAEL FLEMING

Lionsgate has brought on Vadim Perelman to rewrite "Atlas Shrugged" and direct Angelina Jolie in the starring role.

While Lionsgate needs to get a final script before formally committing to a start date with Perelman at the helm, the move puts the company in a strong position for an early 2008 production start, just a shade over 50 years after Ayn Rand's famed novel was first published in 1957.

Pic will be produced by Howard and Karen Baldwin and Media Talent Group's Geyer Kosinski.

Perelman will work from a draft of the script penned by "Braveheart" scribe Randall Wallace, who managed to boil down the Rand manifesto of 1,100-plus pages into a 127-page script. The drama revolves around what happens when great industrialists and thinkers go on strike and the world grinds to a halt.

Wallace will remain involved, and in a recent meeting with Perelman, the pair traded Russian dialogue. Perelman was born in Kiev, while Wallace has picked up the language researching his Catherine the Great pic "The Mercenary"; Rand was born in Russia. Perelman has brought his own take that will be incorporated into Wallace's script.

Perelman's latest film, the Uma Thurman-Evan Rachel Wood starrer "In Bloom," premieres at the Toronto Film Festival. It's his first since his 2003 breakthrough, "House of Sand and Fog."

Jolie starts work in early fall on the Clint Eastwood-directed "The Changeling" for Universal, Imagine and Malpaso. She would like to follow with "Atlas Shrugged," long a passion project for her.

this is madness. i haven't read it, just the wiki entry, but it sounds no less insane than that l ron hubbard book john travolta did.

"this is why i make the blockbusters," said jolie, "so that i can do important work like this"

actually she didn't say that but i bet that's what she thinks

she's also doing that daniel pearl movie with the awful title

more like "Atlas Sucked" amirite?

Yeah, I can't wait until she finishes doing that movie that came out two months ago.

not out in uk yet

we're counting the hours

As you should be.

I can't wait for this! The thing I love about Atlas Shrugged is that it's so over-the-top and ridiculous. Therefore the movie will be hilarious and awesome.

Something bothers me about this sentence: "Perelman's latest film, the Uma Thurman-Evan Rachel Wood starrer "In Bloom," premieres at the Toronto Film Festival." That something is the phrase "the Uma Thurman-Evan Rachel Wood starrer." How hard is it to use real words?

well you know, it's Variety

"I was fascinated by Rand's Hitler's book. It was original and provocative," Wallace told Daily Variety.

i love var-speak

yes, maria! that sent. bothered me so much i didn't read teh rest of the article.

lol varnacular
xpost

I thought Angelina wanted to help the world :(

in her own special Randian way.

do you prefer "vehicle" to "starrer"? That just makes me think of a limo.

She needs a limo to pack as many Darfur orphans as possible.

"this is why i make the blockbusters," said jolie

Maybe I need to look at her filmography again but she hasn't had many blockbusters. I mean, outside of the Tomb Raider films and Mr and Mrs. Smith she's had a lot of bombs. Even "Mr. and Mrs." was driven largely by her celebrity as a celebrity, not her reputation for being a box office queen. The fact she's used the tabloids nearly as much as Paris Hilton has to be build her career is something nobody really looks at.

she has never ever been in a good movie ever and she sucks

The fact she's used the tabloids nearly as much as Paris Hilton has to be build her career is something nobody really looks at.

they're too busy looking at other things

she has never ever been in a good movie ever and she sucks

otm

guys lol point: in my pr class yesterday we were talking about industry jargon, etc. in trade publications vs. press releases. the prime example of crazy jargon used: variety. :P

Lionsgate has brought on Noam Chomsky to rewrite "Atlas Shrugged" and direct Angelina Jolie in the starring role.

http://www.riskybusinessblog.com/2009/07/with-charlize-atlas-is-no-longer-shrugging.html

'Atlas' may no longer be shrugging

By Steven Zeitchik

Char The 37-year effort to bring "Atlas Shrugged" to the screen is finally gaining momentum.

Sort of.

Oscar winner Charlize Theron has been meeting during the past several months with Lionsgate and producers Howard and Karen Baldwin, who are developing the project's latest iteration, about starring as main character Dagny Taggart.

Theron has been eager to play the role but has been concerned that a feature would lose many of the nuances of the monster-sized novel. So the Rand adaptation would, under a plan she and producers discussed, be turned into a miniseries for Epix, the pay-cable network Lionsgate is forming with MGM and Viacom/Paramount.

The project, according to this plan, would be to make the mini one of the fledgling network’s programming linchpins. While insiders are not ruling out the possibility of releasing a condensed version to theaters, the main thrust would be the network, where the mini could be used to lure the book’s legion of fans to subscribe.

Theron, who recently signed with WME after years without an agent, has a history of embracing difficult roles. She took the role of a prostitute-turned-killer in “Monster,” which won her an Oscar. She’s also had parts in the sexual-harassment drama “North Country” and the upcoming apocalyptic tale “The Road.”

But her involvement remained uncertain at press time.

While those familiar with the discussions say she has been driving the development process, her reps say that she has recently come to a decision but has not yet informed the studio or producers. WME and longtime manager J.J. Harris told THR late Monday that Theron "is not moving forward with the project."

The uncertainty surrounding Theron's involvement continues a long tradition of murkiness for “Atlas Shrugged,” the project with more go-rounds than Ayn Rand’s book has pages.

Regarded as a difficult book to film, an “Atlas” project nonetheless has been tried by countless producers, dating back to an attempted effort with writer-producer Albert Ruddy in 1972 (he and Rand couldn't see eye-to-eye on creative issues).

Most recently, the Baldwins and Philip Anschutz tried at Crusader Entertainment and the Baldwins, who produced “Ray” and other well-regarded pics, took it with them when they split from Anschutz.

Angelina Jolie had been loosely attached to the material with the Baldwins but has a number of projects that could go first, and producers are keen to shoot “Atlas” next year. That’s in part because of the timeliness of the material but, more important, because an option with the Rand estate expires if principal photography does not begin in 2010.

With Theron's involvement, it could finally get a boost, especially since financiers also have come aboard; a high net-worth individual is said to find the themes resonant is said to be close to investing in the project. If Theron’s involvement falls through, Lionsgate and producers could bring on another lead, with several other well-known actresses expressing interest.

A 1,000-page novel filled with Rand’s ideas about the future of Western civilization, “Atlas” centers on Taggart, a railroad executive trying to keep her corporation competitive in a world she sees as hostile to innovation. Among its most famous passages is a 50-page speech from mysterious character John Galt, regarded as a veiled expression of Rand’s own ideas.

The book, which has sold tens of millions of copies since being published in 1957, has gained new traction in this era of Wall Street bailouts and corporate responsibility. Those opposed to Washington intervention have frequently cited it as a cautionary manifesto.

Producers own several drafts of the script adapting the difficult material, including one by “Braveheart” scribe Randall Wallace, which compressed the longer, more miniseries-friendly version by James Hart. It’s possible that several drafts could be synthesized to create the basis for a mini.

Although the miniseries idea is a new twist for Lionsgate, it has been considered before for “Atlas,” most recently as a development project a decade ago at TNT. Rand, who died in 1982, had favored television over film, thinking the medium would give her ideas more room to breathe.

Epix was created in part as an output pipeline for the films of the three studios but also is developing original programming. This year, it announced it was developing the pilot “Tough Trade,” a country music-set drama from “Weeds” creator Jenji Kohan.

Still, there are business obstacles for Epix, which has no carriage deals with cable or satellite operators. Some Wall Street analysts wonder how a network might be launched in a climate of consolidation — and one in which HBO, Starz and Showtime are competing for pay-cable subscribers.

But insiders hope the fact that there’s now another outlet for premium programming — and a climate favorable to prestige longform projects on the small screen — could ensure Hollywood finally is shrugging no more.

Maybe.

Oh boy:

For almost two decades, Hollywood has tried unsuccessfully to turn Ayn Rand’s 1100 page classic Atlas Shrugged into a feature film with actresses ranging from Angelina Jolie to Charlize Theron to Faye Dunaway. John Aglialoro, the entrepreneur who 17 years ago paid $1 million to option the book rights, is tired of the futility and is taking matters into his own hands. He’s announced that he is financing a June 11 production start in Los Angeles for the first of what he said will be four films made from the book.

Aglialoro, who had a hand in writing the script by Brian O’Tool, is taking on this ambitious plan with an unproven director, and is weeks away from production without stars to play Dagny Taggart, Hank Rearden, John Galt and the other roles. He's moving forward despite the conventional wisdom that without stars, it could ultimately be the audience that shrugged.

Aglialoro, CEO of exercise equipment manufacturer Cybex International and UM Holdings, would hardly be the only entrepreneur who uses his resources to make a picture happen, one in which he took on a creative role. David Ellison, son of Oracle's Larry Ellison, made a co-financing deal with Paramount, and one of the first projects from his Skydance slate is the aviation thriller Northern Lights, which casts him as co-star. Dan Pritzker, the billionaire son of Hyatt Hotels chain magnate Jay Pritzker, financed and directed a pair of jazz films: Bolden stars The Hurt Locker's Anthony Mackie as pioneering horn player Buddy Bolden; Louis is an honest to goodness silent film--with dialogue title cards and musical accompaniment--about the childhood of Louis Armstrong. Pritzker is working on a plan to show the latter in venues with a live orchestra. I saw the silent film and thought it was well made, but I have doubts Pritzker will sway the business from its 80 year infatuation with "talkies."

Atlas Shrugged will be directed by Stephen Polk, an actor/producer whose father, Louis Polk, was once MGM chairman. He considers Atlas Shrugged to be his feature directing debut, though Polk acknowledges he stepped in and helmed the 2008 indie Baggage. Aglialoro was unavailable to speak directly, but sent a missive indicating that he’s courting actresses like Theron and Maggie Gyllenhaal to play Taggart. Sources in the camps of both actresses were aware of the project, but neither is planning to go to work on Atlas Shrugged next month.

Polk said they are not intimidated to film a storied book even if stars don't align. “For more than 15 years, this has been at studios and there has been a whole dance around who’ll play the iconic roles,” Polk said. “Making it an independent film was the game-changer. Everybody is saying, how can you shoot this movie without a star? We’re shooting it because it’s a good movie with great characters. We've been in pre-production for months, but kept it a mystery. Part of the reason is because there’s so much crap about how you need a great big budget and stars. We aren’t looking for big names to trigger press or financing.”

Polk said that the idea of cutting through the bureaucracy and just getting started is consistent with the book's themes of capitalism and taking entrepreneurial risk. The story centers around Taggart, a railroad executive trying to keep her business on a growth track despite her feeling that innovators in hers and other industries have stopped innovating, which is causing society to crumble.

...four films. Great.

uh

even as the board's resident "Rand's work isn't as terrible as you guys say it is" poster, this entire project seems like the worst fucking idea possible

Part of the reason is because there’s so much crap about how you need a great big budget and stars. We aren’t looking for big names to trigger press or financing.

Wait, based on this, the perfect solution!

Ladies and gentlemen, Atlas Shrugged directed by...

Tommy Wiseau.

I just keep thinking Atlas Shrugged: First Sequence and... no

"The human railroad! Ha ha ha...ha...ha ha!"

Actually this whole thing does seem like the perfect project for Kirk Cameron.