Nothing wrong with trains in the 21st century - just look at the network of high speed trains in China.

" the greedy mother and brother as the bloodsuckers that they are. "
I don't know whether it should be in the movie, but I liked those scenes in the book. They were addicted to Hank's gravy train yet contemptuous of him. It rang true for me.

Dagny could merely maim the guard....... -- j
.

Start the movie with the "who is John Galt" dialogue in the coffee shop, but then go to flashback with Dagny, Francisco, and James and Eddie as kids....don't spend too much time in that time frame, but enough to show some sort of strong connection between those main three...Eddie, Dagny and Francisco...You could also show what a dope James is at that age as well, right? That shouldn't be too hard to show a snivelling coward and "taker" at age 6!

When I first read this book, I pictured "Della Street" from the Perry Mason tv shows as Dagny. A brunette. I can still remember picturing her in that white blouse early on in the book. Stunning!

Totally agree...I loved the "railroad era", even though when I first read it in 1973 they were 'on the way out". I loved the nostalgia it brought to my mind. Granted, millennial nowadays wouldn't have a clue. You'd have to make it the airline industry. But, I love the trains. If Downton Abbey can make the 1900's come to life, Atlas should be able to do the same with this time frame!

PS. I also feel that Francisco, as the early childhood friend, who was the first to "leave" and go to the Gulch, should have more of a role. His involvement could be woven into the mystery, and use his presence (instead of Galt's) early on. He would have the most influence on Dagny as they had been so close. It should be his departure that lends strongly to her leaving and going to the Gulch. His character received very little development...same with Eddie Willers. Pump up both of their roles.

I also love the idea of a mini series....or a Netflix release, like House of Cards, but over at least three years.....or three "seasons"

You could allude to the horrible marriage that Hank is in, and leave out most of their scenes with the greedy mother and brother as the bloodsuckers that they are. JUst leave the bracelet transaction with Dagny in place. HAnks ultimate breakup with his wife can be seen as a foregone conclusion. I realize you wanted to show his integrity by staying in a loveless marriage, but it really is not needed. His integrity shows later when he refuses to let them expose Dagny as his mistress.

I would have liked to have seen more of the transition of Dagny,s brother, and point out his level of corruption with the politicians and what it leads to. His marriage and subsequent decline of same, to me, is more important than the disintegration of Hanks marriage.

I would not identify John Galt as early in a new movie.

I think the early development of the problems were given short shrift in the trilogies. To reach the uninformed, they have to be shown more definitively what it is exactly that they are losing. They are losing their freedom to the government, and that is the most important concept to get across.

Lala land at the end is all fine and dandy for those that get there, but I don't think the trilogies identified strongly enough why they were compelled to leave after Galt comes and has his little chat with each of them. Maybe it can be shown in flashbacks. Their cumulative frustration and disgust with the government needs to be built up better before they finally say "screw this" and leave.

Keep up the good work!

Mini series that closely follows the book is a good idea. Ayn Rand was a screen play writer and her books are written as a screen play, ready to be produced.

Leave nothing out, even if marathon running time and/or a 24-part series. Think along the lines of NBI or ARI lecture series. Don't screw it up again or don't make it at all. "Roots" was successful and other epics show it can be done right.

I guess it depends upon how you like sex. My preference is a willing partner having a good time, not pretending to fight me off yelling “NO!” when she means “YES!” To me, Rand’s sex scenes were not clear that she enjoyed this sort of kink and I could not always it figure out if she was having fun. I have read several X-Rated books which depict much better kinky sex scenes than Rand wrote.I am not passing judgment on her idea of what is good sex, merely pointing out I do not think it adds to the main theme, which is: The Primary of Existence principle and how violating by embracing the Primary of Consciousness causes bad things.

As Maritimus said:
"Think Downton Abbey" !
This should be a series with the best possible writers and actors.
There will be an initial following...and eventually a growing and loyal audience.

Please: No 2-hour-length movie.

No, no, no. Those love scenes are crucial and hold everything together. Remember Rand's explanation: Rape by engraved invitation. Love sells. Sex sells. Just what do you consider the most important central theme?

I'm not convinced about that. There are plenty of "lowest common denominator" elements to hook in the viewers. For example, the just-barely-legal Francisco/Dagny love scenes. Francisco is also an easy sell as a brilliant adolescent young buck. Garnish his character with some rebellious punk elements for added interest. The speedboat scene is also raw fun.

I maintain that AR has got enough entertaining elements in the book which can be elaborated on-screen without breaching the book's integrity.

I feel compelled to add my two cents, even if I agree with MikeG and others that normal movie (circa 120 min.) is inadequate format to convey Atlas Shrugged.
Ayn Rand worked as an artist for many years to compose her masterpiece. Its sales are due not only to the "message", but also to the great novel-writing art that she displayed. Readers get emotionally involved in the story and that keeps them all the way through 1200 pages. It is the story of Dagny Taggart (and many other things, as you know).
"Updating" that story by reproducing it in the new medium of a 2 hr. movie is nonsensical pursuit. You should have already learned that in the three-part attempt. Would you try to "update" the Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel to a cellphone snapshot?
Learn from the great success of Downton Abbey. Find a top notch writer. Perhaps the same guy. Assemble a first class team of director, cinematographer, scenes and costumes designers. Then select a uniformly very good (not top Hollywood star! - they are too spoiled and already lefty indoctrinated) team of actors that are enthusiastic about the project and hungry to show what they can do. Then produce a similar series, maybe even over two seasons. Get the best experts to help you translate a great novel into a great moviesque show.
Is it risky? Of course. Is it expensive? Enormously. Is worth it? It is vitally important. We are talking about a best seller for more than a half a century.
That is all I can say. I wish I were a creative genius and accumulated billions. I would fund it gladly.

About 95% of Galt's speech ;-)

Clint Eastwood. Who else to take on this> I bet he would be interested. Nice hearing from you again.

I think the whole area around the torture, secret projects, etc, can be cut. I know why Rand had them in the book, but I think most people see them as just unrealistic. The best message to focus on in a single movie is the economic one. Make people see the consequences of what they recognize as their own government's policies. When an audience sees torture, it looks too extreme. The audience thinks, "ok, this is fiction, but this is nothing like MY government", then the economic argument is categorized in their mind as fiction also.

What is the point of a new AS movie?

Successful in terms of viewership or successful in terms of fidelity to the book? There is a trade-off involved.

An Atlas Shrugged movie?
Are you KIDDING?
ABORT MISSION!!!

Forget movie or even trilogy. With the sheer volume of intricate and interconnected plot material in AS, it would be an insult to that book to try to edit it down to even 3 movies.

If anything, it needs to be planned out as a 3-season TV series. I'm estimating it will need at least 25-30 hours of screen time.

Note that a lot of the narration would need to be replaced by dialogue, which will pad it out even more. For example, the backstory scene with Dagny, Francisco and Eddy at the water swing where they had figured out differential equations from scratch.

Plan for 3 seasons of 8-10 episodes each. Omit none of the characters, no matter how small. Budget, finance and cast accordingly. Then you will have a successful screen rendition.

I expect it would now be technically feasible to just take those three movies and "photoshop" the faces of one set of actors into the other two, thus removing this inconsistency. Whether the actual actors would hold still for that is another question; some of them might scream bloody murder. But that's what I would do.

Does anyone really believe that any of the three movies was so bad that a complete remake is worthwhile?

I agree with Temiakos. Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, or Vimeo is a better way to reach our audience than either cable or the "mainstream" TV networks. Though I'd consider Fox or TheBlaze if they were willing.

I look at Atlas Shrugged as more of a mini series than a movie. Like was stated there is too much information for a movie. Pass the torch on to a Netflix and let them crete the story which is a fabulous story. I believe that it would be a classic on film like it was in print if given the time to unroll the story.

Absolutely not because he is the very first person we meet in the book, he is not a mover or a shaker but often is the 'Everyman' who is swept along by the events, sometimes acting like a Greek chorus in expressing the collective thoughts of many who maintained hope on this side of Atlantis and then had that crushed also. It isn't about the major players, it's about their affect on the faceless crowd which Eddie represents. The "We're going back!" addendum isn't as effective as 'the beam of a motionless headlight...going off into a limitless night.'!