Atlas Shrugged is Stalled

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Angelina Jolie Tells Cinematical 'Atlas Shrugged' is Stalled

by Ryan Stewart

Cinematical

June 17, 2007

From the article:

I had a chance to speak with Angelina Jolie at the press junket for A Mighty Heart on Friday, and I asked her about a few of her upcoming (or potentially upcoming) projects. As for the one the fanboys care most about -- Sin City 2 -- she laughed when I asked her if she would do it, and then she smiled and simply said "It might be resurfacing." She had a little more to say about the adaptation of Atlas Shrugged, which is moving forward very slowly, despite having the Plan B powerhouse of Pitt and Jolie behind it. Angelina told me that the project is still on the table, but "the thing with Atlas is just, we all feel that it's one of those projects where if you can't do it right, you really can't touch it. So we have not had all the pieces come together. There's not been a director that's right to come on, or all of those elements. So until it does, you know, I certainly don't want to be a part of something that's just put together to hit 'this date.'"

There was speculation on another forum about Clint Eastwood being possibly wooed as director. According to an article in Variety in March, Eastwood and Jolie will be doing a movie together:

Eastwood, Jolie catch 'Changeling'

By DIANE GARRETT, MICHAEL FLEMING

Variety

Mar. 8, 2007

From that article back then:

Jolie, who'll next be seen as Marianne Pearl in "The Mighty Heart" and then in the Bob Zemeckis-directed "Beowulf," will have to juggle "The Changeling" with another plum project. She's booked to star in "Atlas Shrugged," a Randall Wallace-scripted adaptation of the Ayn Rand classic for Lionsgate.

From what I read in a few places, "The Changeling" was fast-tracked by Universal, so this is probably the real glitch. Anyway, Jolie and Eastwook will be working together and, if the experience is a great one, maybe he would consider signing on. He certainly would be a wonderful director for Atlas.

I think the idea of holding out for a director of this stature is absolutely correct, if this is part of the reason for the delay.

Michael

[Chris Grieb]

Michael;

Clint as a director sounds like a good idea.

I just wish something would happen and the movie would get going.

[PalePower]

It sounds like she really cares about staying true to the movie, too. Go Jolie!

[BAMF]

Beowulf? Tiiiiiiight!

[Neil Parille]

I get the impression that studios believe that AS will not "translate" well into a multi-part movie (at least one for the big screen).

I doubt we will see AS in film in our lifetime.

[BaalChatzaf]

I get the impression that studios believe that AS will not "translate" well into a multi-part movie (at least one for the big screen).

I doubt we will see AS in film in our lifetime.

Be grateful. The novel is simply too big to fit into a motion picture (or a sequence of motion pictures) of feasible length. One can learn a lesson from how Peter Jackson munged up -Lord of the Rings-, another Big Novel.

In addition to size and scope considerations, consider the center of the novel -- railroads --. Railroads are so ... last century. Railroads have been dead and rotting in the U.S for over 60 years. The only viable portion of railroad service remaining is commuter rail and freight. Passenger trains are dead and gone.

And the best of attempts will piss half the audience off -- guaranteed.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[studiodekadent]

I think Clint Eastwood would be a good choice for director, given he is a libertarian and hence at least politically sympathetic to Objectivism. We also know he is a good director.

[Rich Engle]

I think Clint Eastwood would be the bomb for this. The only other guy that comes to mind is Ron Howard, he has a mind for big.

rde

[Philip Coates]

Leonard Peikoff told a small group of us in the mid-80's that Clint Eastwood had approached him and wanted to direct Atlas at that time.

[Faust06]

I wouldn't pick Eastwood, myself. Maybe David Fincher, or Christopher Nolan.

[Kat]

I thought the director was a done deal. His name escapes me, but he was at the Atlas Celebration in Washington, DC and made a pretty good impression. Now, with rumors of Angelina expecting twins, the movie may be stalled again. I think that maybe they should be looking for another actress rather than a director at this point. I really don't think this movie is a big priority for her and she mentioned a while back she wants to take some time off for family anyway.

Kat

[Dragonfly]

We'll never see that movie.

[Chris Grieb]

Atlas Shrugged is stalled for the same reason everything in Hollywood is stalled. The Screen Writers Guild strike.

We may not have the Oscars.

The strike is the 400 pound gorilla in the room.

[Wolf DeVoon]

I went to the Baldwin website to see what, if anything, was new. A bit surprised (not) to learn that "Dagny Taggart, one of the great heroines of modern literature, struggles to fulfill her great-grandfather's legacy as she steers her family's railroad conglomerate through ... international terrorism." What's a railroad conglomerate? Does Ragnar hijack airplanes?

Anyway, it's not in production, or pre-production, or anything else. Lionsgate signed an interim deal with the WGA, and the writers strike was aimed at scripted TV series, not features. Variety lists a bunch of production starts this month. Baldwin is busy making a cheap vigilante gangbanger pic. Angelina Jolie is slated to fight Russian gunrunners and terrorists for Paramount, have twins, maybe adopt another, before bashing Ragnar with her conglomerate.

Edited January 28, 2008 by Wolf DeVoon

[BaalChatzaf]

We'll never see that movie.

I concur. It is just as well. They will screw up story in much the same way Peter Jackson screwed up LOTR.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Chris Grieb]

Kat; The name of the director is Ron Perleman. He directed "The House of Sand and Fog".

[Selene]

Angelina Jolie Tells Cinematical 'Atlas Shrugged' is Stalled

by Ryan Stewart

Cinematical

June 17, 2007

From the article:

I had a chance to speak with Angelina Jolie at the press junket for A Mighty Heart on Friday, and I asked her about a few of her upcoming (or potentially upcoming) projects. As for the one the fanboys care most about -- Sin City 2 -- she laughed when I asked her if she would do it, and then she smiled and simply said "It might be resurfacing." She had a little more to say about the adaptation of Atlas Shrugged, which is moving forward very slowly, despite having the Plan B powerhouse of Pitt and Jolie behind it. Angelina told me that the project is still on the table, but "the thing with Atlas is just, we all feel that it's one of those projects where if you can't do it right, you really can't touch it. So we have not had all the pieces come together. There's not been a director that's right to come on, or all of those elements. So until it does, you know, I certainly don't want to be a part of something that's just put together to hit 'this date.'"

There was speculation on another forum about Clint Eastwood being possibly wooed as director. According to an article in Variety in March, Eastwood and Jolie will be doing a movie together:

Eastwood, Jolie catch 'Changeling'

By DIANE GARRETT, MICHAEL FLEMING

Variety

Mar. 8, 2007

From that article back then:

Jolie, who'll next be seen as Marianne Pearl in "The Mighty Heart" and then in the Bob Zemeckis-directed "Beowulf," will have to juggle "The Changeling" with another plum project. She's booked to star in "Atlas Shrugged," a Randall Wallace-scripted adaptation of the Ayn Rand classic for Lionsgate.

From what I read in a few places, "The Changeling" was fast-tracked by Universal, so this is probably the real glitch. Anyway, Jolie and Eastwook will be working together and, if the experience is a great one, maybe he would consider signing on. He certainly would be a wonderful director for Atlas.

I think the idea of holding out for a director of this stature is absolutely correct, if this is part of the reason for the delay.

Michael

Thank you for the update Michael. I have been away at the political wars and have not been posting for a while. Nice to see the this forum is still vibrant and sharp as ever. And nice to see that Ba'al is as negative as ever.

Adam

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Adam,

Angelina is having twins. I imagine this postponed the schedule a bit. Maybe some behind-the-scenes stuff. I have not heard much anything else.

I am looking forward to seeing this film completed and have full faith that it will be.

After all this is over, I can just see the projects: "Atlas Shrugged Again, the Sequel!"

Hollywood is Hollywood.

Michael

[BaalChatzaf]

Adam,

Angelina is having twins. I imagine this postponed the schedule a bit. Maybe some behind-the-scenes stuff. I have not heard much anything else.

I am looking forward to seeing this film completed and have full faith that it will be.

After all this is over, I can just see the projects: "Atlas Shrugged Again, the Sequel!"

Hollywood is Hollywood.

Michael

Master Yoda says: Do not your breath hold until the movie made is, else blue turn you will.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Roger Bissell]

Adam,

Angelina is having twins. I imagine this postponed the schedule a bit. Maybe some behind-the-scenes stuff. I have not heard much anything else.

I am looking forward to seeing this film completed and have full faith that it will be.

After all this is over, I can just see the projects: "Atlas Shrugged Again, the Sequel!"

Hollywood is Hollywood.

Michael

More likely, we'll soon be seeing "Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the Sequel," where Brad and Angie have to figure out how to kill (and then, keep from killing) each other, while taking turns doing childcare for their infant twins, Ragnar and Francisco.

REB

[John Dailey]

~ It appears that a new 'glitch' is coming. Check out...

Writer's Strike over; now, for the SAG...

...maybe it'll be the movie-moguls' (aka 'Producers') turn next?

LLAP

J:D

[Backlighting]

Last night on Inside Edition it was mentioned that Jolie is aboard on the the upcoming film Atlas Shrugged.

[Kat]

Last night on Inside Edition it was mentioned that Jolie is aboard on the the upcoming film Atlas Shrugged.

WOOOOOO-HOOOOO GAME ON!!!!

Kat

[John Dailey]

~ "On board" sounds good, but, from what I understand re 'hollywood parlance', it sounds...given what I already posted above...like nothing more than merely

-- 'The check's in the mail.'--

~ We'll see.

LLAP

J:D

[Kat]

Here is some more news from a recent interview with the Director of the Atlas Shrugged movie, Vadim Perelman.

GAME ON!

Exclusive: Perelman on Atlas Shrugged

By Heather Huntington

The House of Sand and Fog director talks about finally getting the project out of development Hell.

Best known for House of Sand and Fog, writer/director Vadim Perelman is about to come out with another book-to-movie adaptation, The Life Before Her Eyes, which he was showing at last week's AFI Dallas International Film Festival. But even though the drama, which stars Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood, opens next week, it is hardly the most exciting project Perelman has on his slate.

As it turns out, Perelman has written an adaptation of Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand's 1957 novel about a female railroad magnate, Dagny Taggart, who is struggling to keep her company afloat. The 1000+ page exploration of Rand's philosophy of Objectivism has been considered both off-putting and monumentally influential to its readers.

However, the real story behind Atlas Shrugged is the difficult (to say the least) journey it has had making it to film. In fact, Atlas Shrugged is often cited as the quintessential example of a movie that's been stuck in "development Hell," with various versions supported by various investors and studios, with various writers and directors attached nearly since it was published.

But somehow, Perelman's adaptation seems to be the one that may get off the ground. "I wrote a script that they all liked for the first time," he says. "I was really true to the book and they said that I solved it, finally. Not my words. I didn't feel I did, but they really liked it a lot."

What's most interesting is that Perelman managed this even though he isn't much of an Ayn Rand fan. "It's not very good literature," he and I agreed, "but I have respect for her."

Rumors abound as to who will play the lead roles in the movie, although at present names like Angelina Jolie, Russell Crowe and Brad Pitt are all supposedly attached. And it seems as though there will still be time for things to change.

But at present, Perelman is cautiously optimistic. "Now I'm doing a rewrite, a polish, as they say," he says. "And they seem to want to get it done."

Vadim Perelman's next movie, The Life Before Her Eyes, opens on Friday, April 18, 2008.