While we prefer to keep this blog focused on the issues, there is room here to spotlight an upcoming project that I’m personally very excited about. It seems that, after a wait of 33 years since the idea first surfaced, Ayn Rand’s classic novel ‘Atlas Shrugged’ is going to the big screen - not once but three times!

Atlas Shrugged (1957) is Rand’s magnum opus, an epic, philosophical novel coloured by her libertarian* ideals, and a story about the heroes of liberty. Needless to say, many on the Left hated it - which is one of the principal reasons I’m eagerly anticipating this latest effort to film it.

In a final session at The Atlas Society’s Summer Seminar last week, the producers of the film project gave a presentation outlining the progress being made (thanks to New Individualist editor Robert James Bidinotto for the details):

1) The final go-ahead “deal” was signed on June 29. The film is well-capitalized, with Lionsgate - the studio that produced the most recent Oscar-winning film, “Crash” - investing $40 million or more for initial production effort.

2) The plan is for the film to be shot and shown in three parts, as a trilogy, like “Lord of the Rings.” Only that length, they said, would give sufficient scope to tell Ayn Rand’s long, complex story. (The initial $40 million would go mainly to Part I.)

3) To hold down production costs, much of the filming may take place in Europe and in the American Southwest, with only “second unit” establishing shots done in iconic venues such as New York City. Filming for more than one of the three parts may occur at the same time.

4) The first draft of the script for Part I has been completed by James V. Hart, a veteran screenwriter among whose major credits are “Contact,” “Hook,” and “Tuck Everlasting.”

5) Philosopher David Kelley - founder, past executive director, and now Senior Fellow of The Atlas Society (formerly The Objectivist Center) - has worked closely with Hart to insure the screenplay’s philosophical fidelity to the novel. For his input, Kelley will be credited onscreen as a co-producer of the film. Kelley reported to us that Hart’s screenplay has ingeniously integrated many aspects and characters from the novel, far more than he expected could be included. He rates the screenplay about an “8″ out of a possible “10.” (The screenplay is likely to undergo additional changes - we hope that means “improvements” - during production.)

6) Howard and Karen Baldwin of the Baldwin Entertainment Group - which produced the outstanding Oscar-winning hit film “Ray” - are co-executive producers, along with John Aglialoro, who holds the screen rights to the Ayn Rand novel on which the film will be based. They are absolutely committed to a film that does justice to Rand’s novel.

7) The Baldwins similarly insisted that they wanted a great film, one that in no way undermines or does a disservice to Rand’s ideas or characters. They clearly love the novel. Karen Baldwin declared that the novel’s heroine, Dagny Taggart, may well be the greatest female character in all of literature. In selecting a director, they said, one of their first questions is: “When was the last time you read Atlas Shrugged?” They are committed to hiring a capable director who is completely familiar with the novel, and who understands its message, characters, and style. The entire audience was impressed with their authenticity and conviction on all these points, with their enthusiasm for the project, and also with their deference to the dedication of John Aglialoro in getting the film done, and done right.

The Baldwins revealed that they have been deluged with major stars who want to play in the film. While they were eager to hear our suggestions for various characters, the only name they emphasized, repeatedly, was Angelina Jolie for the Dagny role. They made it very clear that Jolie wants to play Dagny very, very much — and that other actresses (e.g., Ashley Judd), while possibly excellent for the part, might not have the stellar box-office appeal that would allow the film to be a huge success, especially abroad. This is no minor consideration, since the success of the first film will be important in determining the fate of the subsequent instalments. Karen Baldwin also stressed that for Jolie, fidelity to the Dagny character as she is in the novel - particularly her dialogue - is a must; she wants as much of Rand’s dialogue to be used in the film as possible.Interesting. Personally I feel that the character of Dagny would best be portrayed by someone like Jodie Foster - with the features, the presence, the right intensity, the slightly subtle beauty and the sexy legs (my two cents’ on casting). That said, Jolie may well be able to do the role justice, particularly if the Baldwins’ account of her being a New Individualist reader is accurate.

But it certainly sounds like the project has the right people at the helm, and I’ll be interested to see how the left-wing media react as news of the film spreads to their quarters. Most exciting, though, is that finally Rand’s ideas may enter popular culture in an unprecedented way, and more people will be exposed to the true definition of the word Liberty. I’m going to read as much of the novel as I can on my flight to Dublin, Ireland tomorrow - with eleven hours to kill, I may just finish it.

John Wrightjohnwright@libertarianreason.com

(* Rand refused to identify as a libertarian, choosing instead to call herself an Objectivist - a word she coined to describe her philosophy. Despite what some Objectivists say, her political views were, nevertheless, what we today would call libertarian. Rand was one of the greatest exponents of ‘libertarian’ individualism from a philosophical perspective of the 20th century. The fact that her philosophy of Objectivism encompassed more than politics doesn’t make the political component of her philosophy any less libertarian, and it’s worth mentioning that the other components of Objectivism - such as atheism and Objectivist theories of sex and art - are equally present in Atlas Shrugged.)