Friday, February 11, 2011

Who Is John Galt?

Myths about this movie.

To help dispel some common myths floating around about the new Atlas Shrugged movie:

* It will not star Angelina Jole. She was in serious discussions at one point a few years ago, but those plans fell through. Nor will it star Brad Pitt, who was also rumored to be interested. The movie stars Taylor Schilling (as Dagny Taggart) and Grant Bowler (as Hank Rearden).
* It will be neither a feature film nor a mini-series. There was some talk of a mini-series many years ago, but none of the networks signed on for it. The current production is instead a trilogy, corresponding to the three parts of the Atlas Shrugged novel. And it will be released in movie theaters, rather than direct to television.
* The budget is not $5 million. That figure has been cited widely, especially by those disparaging the movie. The final production budget is closer to $10 million, and the full budget is likely to be $25 million by the time the movie is released.
* Vadim Perelman is not the director. He was involved in plans for the movie a few years ago, but they didn’t pan out. The director is Paul Johansson.
* “Hollywood” won’t have a chance to ruin it. Many people have complained that Hollywood will inevitably water down Ayn Rand’s themes, but actually there were no major studios involved. The first part of the trilogy was financed out of John Aglialoro’s pocket. The pre-production, shooting, and post processes were not supervised by a studio representative the same way other movies are.

We’ll continue adding (and correcting) myths on this page as we come across them. If you spot any other myths that need to be dispelled, feel free to mention them in the comments below.


  1. The bumper sticker on my car asks "Who is John Galt.” I have never received a compliment and only a few have let me know that they do not approve.

    I know that the movie will not do the book justice, but it may be worth the effort if a few more people end up reading the book.

  2. @skyoungtribe: It is a very rare movie that does any book justice! I agree that if the movie encourages more people to read the book, it will be good.

  3. Oh man I have such a crush on Taylor Schilling from her days on Mercy. So many other good and recognizable actors are in it too!

  4. There is a possible benefit to be had from the uneducated watching the movie, as long as the message is not destroyed in translation to film. I do not think it will result in people rushing to amazon to buy the book. People do not watch movies to think about the themes, or explore the message. They watch movies to be distracted from their mundane existence. The message will need to be delivered in a most powerful way, and movies, I believe, have lost that ability. One can hope though.