Use original cast if possible and make sure you have a good director. It has to be an OMG you need to see this movie kind of movie or people won't spend their money to go and the message will never get out.

A. Casting
I want the original cast back!!!
Part II was just not a believable as Part I.

Casting. The cast of part one grew on us quite quickly. The lead actress had what it takes; long legs, beauty, and talent. All of the actors were much better in part one. Part two sucked. No offense. The lead actress?! Not so lovely. And she is supposed to have long legs as noted over and over again in the book. I couldnt tell which character was which in part two and hardly cared. I truly believe using the original cast will ssve part three. Please please please!!!

A, B and E.
Do not bring Part II cast members back . They let me down. With the proper Cast (A) and Director (E) it is possible to not only get the message correct but to make sure those people who still are oblivious to what is happening finally see the light. A dynamic John Galt actor is needed.

A. - Please bring back the cast from Part 1 - they were much more convincing in their roles, which is important for B, the message.

A. Part 1 cast was great minus Francisco. You nailed Dagny's character. Part 2 did not.

B. This is a given. In the last part I'd really like to see the scene where Rearden grabs his gun in his pocket to protect Ragnar from the police. You have to nail the Ragnar character and that whole scene.

Signing the lead actress that portrayed Dabny in the first movie!

Casting - frankly I'm so disappointed in the wholesale casting changes between 1 & 2 I think the investors have destroyed any chances of creating the masterpiece to which they aspired. Sadly I don't think anything is more important and it no longer matters. Obviously finances had a lot to do with actor selection and the principals were cost driven rather than quality driven. Rather unlike the principals of objectivism.

Casting, by all means! Bring back the main actors of AS part one, pleaseeeee! Everything else is absolutely perfect, we LOVE the movie and hope you make more of the kind.

Scrap Part 2. Forget it. It is easily forgettable. Reshoot Part 2 with the original cast from Part 1. Whoever decided to scrap the members of the original production company really made a bad mistake. Destroyed the continuity completely. I know this advice may be impractical, but be bold, own the mistake, make Part 2 right. If it is done right with the original cast, it will satisfy the continuity I am still waiting for. If this cannot be done, then at least do the same thing: hire an entirely new cast for Part 3. At least this will put the discontinuity to work by shifting the effect of the film to be more conceptual than fictional narrative.

B - get the message right.
A - casting. Dagny - Samantha Mathis destroyed the whole concept of Dagny as a strong, independet woman in charge. Taylor Shilling did great job.

You MUST bring back the original cast. They portrayed the characters a thousand times better. The second film was a dramatic let down and very disappointing. I watch the first film periodically but once was enough for the second.

I would say A and B. A, bring back Taylor Schilling and Grant Bowler. B, obviously, it's impossible to include Galt's full speech, but the important parts better be there.

A. Casting and C. Cinematography

I was terribly disappointed that the entire cast was replaced. The new cast was not as good and did not have the magic & closeness of those in Part I. There was great chemistry between Dagny Taggart (Taylor Schilling) and Henry Rearden (Grant Bowler) when they were together, and strong characters when acting apart. At first, I thought Ms. Schilling would be too attractive to be believable as a head of a major company. But her sometimes cold, business persona dispelled that fear; truly excellent! Mr. Bowler’s performance was rock solid and totally believable as a CEO of a steel firm. He was also not just another handsome face, but a no-nonsense, man’s man who was a force to be reckoned with. Then there was Graham Beckel’s Ellis Wyatt: unique and charming when professionally impressed, and ruthless when agitated. Jsu Garcia’s Francisco d'Anconia had so many facets to his personality, I don’t know how he kept them all straight and believable, sometimes in the same scene. The cast of Part II, with few isolated exceptions, paled in comparison.

Regarding Cinematography: Part I had an earth-tone color scheme and richness about it which said ‘quality’. By contrast, Part II came across as brightly lit, sterile, and somehow artificial. The feel/tone/visuals of Part II made me feel more like I was watching a prime time TV show; it didn’t ‘feel’ right, not like Part I.

I'm glad to see others feel similarly and that I'm not the only one with these perceptions.

A. Casting. The first cast was much better and more engaging than the second cast. I didn't realize they had changed it, and it was very disconcerting, especially since I re-visited the first movie directly before watching the second.

A. Casting. Bring back Taylor Shilling. She nailed Dagny. The 2nd actress was just wrong for the part. I liked the original Hank Rearden actor better also.
E. Director: I'd love to see Darren Aronofsky direct Part III if you have the budget. If not, check out a new young director from here in Colorado named Jamin Winans. His feature, "Ink", blew me away.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamin_Winan...

Casting. Although the actors in both films did a great job, Taylor Shilling did a great job a Dagny in Part I.

I saw AS1 5 times at the theatre and bought multiple copies of the Blu-Ray. I saw AS2 only once.

Though it appears like B is the winner based on comment count, a few folks pointed out the obvious: what good is a perfect message poorly executed?

The original cast was superior to the 2nd in every way. Samantha Mathis moped and looked dour while Taylor Shilling gave me goose bumps when she told Francisco that she was going to win. The score for AS1 was gorgeous and sounded like Goldsmith at times. I bought that CD too and listen to it often.

A.) Casting- I agree with all of you about Dagney, but I also hated the choice of Richard Jones for Eddie... He is way too confident to play a guy without the confidence to tell the woman he loved how he felt and be content to work with her. Edi Gathegi did a suburb job- Honestly, just for continuity I wish you'd kept the original cast intact.

Also- I would LOVE to see Anna Silk for Lilian Rearden...

Get the original cast from Atlas Shrugged 1 back

It seems that I would be echoing what I see on most posts - bring the cast of Part 1 back. They nailed it. I liked that you did not feel the need to dummy down anything. Stick to the first cast and follow the book.

B first
Then A and C
Having some continuity with same actors of previous films would be great. (the Atlas 1 Actors were far better than 2)

B. Ayn Rand had such a brilliant perception of the times we are living in right now. So much of the movie is happening today and people need to see the light before it is to late. Whatever the priority, MAKE Part III. This country needs it now!

B. Getting the message right.

I've loved both movies but shuddered during the "Fox news" bit in Part 2. I think it's vital that you don't try to align the message and philosophy of Atlas Shrugged with any current political party. Neither the republicans nor democrats even remotely reflect the message you are trying to get across. Please don't discredit Ayn's philosophy by associating it to a specific party, both of which are pretty corrupt.

Really looking forward to Part 3, best of luck with the movie!!!

A. Not so much who the particular actors are, but the complete change of cast from part I to II was extremely disruptive.

Among other things, the difference in age between the actors in the two movies made it seem like around 15 years had passed between the end of part I to the start of II. Was this intentional? I don't remember any such time lapse being mentioned in the book.

One specific casting request: bring back Armin Schimmerman. The man was born to play an Atlas Shrugged bureaucrat, but all he got was a cameo in part I.