Atlas Shrugged getting several movies

Did the first iteration of this work make money?

I don't know what kind of money it made back on DVD (though I don't think it was ever that hot an item on Amazon and retail stores), but the theatrical run was limited and made back way less money than its backers wanted to anticipate.

It's actually surprising they still managed to get funding for a sequel just because the original lost so much money.

edited 19th Oct '12 12:57:23 PM by SeanMurrayI

From my understanding it tanked in theaters. On DVD it might have broken even.

And I'm still pissed about Robert Picardo.

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Wait, Thomas F. Wilson is in this?

(I feel like I've asked this before.)

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DVD sales would've had to be in excess of $15 million, over 75% of its budget, for that to have happened.

In fact, seeing that the budget for a Part II is HALF that of the first movie, I think, is a greater sign than any that the first movie lost money. If the original made back its budget (even through video sales), Part II's budget should've been equal or greater so as to capitalize and expand on what would have meant a successful investment the first time around—not cut by 50%. Part II's budget is likely only half that of the original because that's all the original made back.

Also, Part I was able to make back about $1.7 million across 299 screens in its first weekend in theaters (about $5,640 per screen, which actually matched the average of the #1 movie at the box office that same weekend, despite that movie having played on 4x as many screens). This new movie only made about the same amount across over 1,000 screens (averaging $1,725 per screen, compared to the $5,900 average that this week's #1 movie is still pulling in)! If producer John Aglialoro was surprised to see the first movie make less money than he had wanted to anticipate before, the sequel's opening box office has to be DEVASTATING.

Yeah, he's in this.

edited 20th Oct '12 10:08:30 AM by SeanMurrayI

We should totally make our own riff of one of these movies.

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Well, in the past week somebody who clearly didn't have any part in the making of Part 1 put THAT movie in its entirety up on Youtube where it could be viewed FOR FREE and at the expense of Ayn Rand and everybody who actually DID make the movie itself in the first place... (You'd be doing a service just to click on that link and comment that anyone who both watched Part 1 on Youtube and claimed to believe in Ayn Rand's message that they are hypocrites and, in actuality, the very "moochers" and "parasites" that Rand openly despised—like I did)

Though as someone who has organized DOZENS of troper riffs on feature length movies, I will say that if Part 1's trailer is anything to go by, that is NOT the kind of movie anybody should try to watch just to make fun of it. Especially if you and fellow riffers are not prepared for a very dialogue-driven 90 minutes espousing the virtues of unregulated capitalism, it'll likely turn out to be a very dull, very painful experience for everyone involved.

Part 2, I think, would lend itself more easily to being riffed, if only for there being more recognizable faces and greater (but still incredibly lame—look at that fucking bridge with the archways!) spectacle on show in the trailer.

edited 21st Oct '12 10:11:47 AM by SeanMurrayI

Looters riff, Objectivists write comedies .

I wonder if they'll hire a Rand lookalike for her Author Avatar.

"But don't give up hope. Everyone is cured sooner or later. In the end we shall shoot you." - O'Brien, 1984

But those are the best kinds of movies to make fun of!

(Semi-related side note: My favorite MST 3 K ep has always been I Accuse My Parents.)

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The Room is pretty dialogue heavy and it's great to riff on.

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Yeah, and have you ever tried watching I Accuse My Parents without Joel and the Bots? Shit like that is horrendous.

Hell, sometimes not even shit like Space Mutiny is endurable without MST 3 K's commentary (as a bunch of us learned the hard way about a month ago; Tom Servo's reference to joining in a "class-action lawsuit" again Space Mutiny at the end of the movie is utterly meaningless to anyone who hasn't tried watching it without their comic relief).

I'm telling you from my own experience (And, again, other tropers and I have been gaining A LOT of experience lately in this exact field), movies like Atlas Shrugged, Part I are the ones that most closely feel like the cinematic equivalent of the Bataan Death March—a slow, arduous, soul-crushing, physically debilitating crawl; 90 minutes feels like 90 years, more than an entire lifetime of needless pain and misery when all you were originally looking for was Narm and a little unintentional hilarity.

I'm just giving you fair warning, is all.

We're not talking about The Room, and you can't promise me that Atlas Shrugged, Part I is any way similar to The Room, anyway.

edited 21st Oct '12 3:11:19 PM by SeanMurrayI

The Room is dialogue-heavy but it's also hilariously bad. Atlas Shrugged isn't hilariously bad writing, it's frustratingly, infuriating decent.

Rand isn't a bad writer. To a degree, at least. You'll root for Dagny, Reardon, Francisco, and Eddie because they're alright characters, not great, but better then every slimeball, strawman cartoon that opposes them. Even Galt had a few good moments.

The novel is a textbook So Okay, It's Average business drama that has some actually good scenes here and there. The Author Tract is what makes this grueling and painful, the ok story and decent moments drowning in soapbox lectures and silly politics.

edited 21st Oct '12 3:56:53 PM by Rotpar

"But don't give up hope. Everyone is cured sooner or later. In the end we shall shoot you." - O'Brien, 1984

So it's pretty much more boring than anything is what you're saying.

Yeah, that's pretty bad. Those are the worst movies. I rescind my proposal.

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They probably should have invested on Bioshock movie instead.

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I'm actually looking forward to Atlas Shrugged: Part III just to see if it consists SOLELY of the infamous speech.

Also, no discussion of this movie is complete without the enormous AND hilarious alternate title thread in the AV Club review comment section. My personal favorite is Atlas Shrugged II: Gathering of the Shruggalos. I hope that the term "Shruggalos" ends up replacing "Randroids".

EDIT: Fixed URL

edited 22nd Oct '12 10:16:23 AM by Psyclone

There's somehow a space in that URL, and it doesn't immediately direct to what you need to see. Just saying.

Anyway, my favorite is Atlas Shrugged III: The Search for Galt. And to make my own...

A Fistful of Shrugs, For a Few Shrugs More, and The Good, The Bad & The Shrugly

I see you drivin' round town with that book by Rand, and I'm like, "*shrug* You."

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For some reason I am also partial to Atlas Shrugged III: The Legend of Atlas' Gold.

But shouldn't it be The Legend of John Galt's Gold?

EDIT: Also, Shrugged in Africa

edited 22nd Oct '12 10:45:01 AM by SeanMurrayI

Johnny Galt's Objectivist Train Track Plan?

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That isn't a sequel or part of a series of movies.

And of course.

Atlas Shrugged part three: Return of The Galt.

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The Galt Ultimatum

At Galt's End

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Episode III: Revenge of the Galt

Also:

• Atlas Shrugged 2: Dead by Dawn
• Bruce Campbell Vs. Atlas of Darkness
• Atlas Shrugged 3D
• Atlas Shrugged IV: The Final Chapter
• Atlas Shrugged V: A New Beginning
• Atlas Shrugged VI: John Galt Lives
• Atlas Shrugged VII: The New Blood
• Atlas Shrugged VII: John Galt Takes Manhattan
• John Galt Goes to Hell
• John Galt X
• I Still Know Where You Shrugged Last Summer

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.