Movie Monday: Atlas Shrugged “Way above industry’s expectations”
April 18th, 2011Over the weekend the cinematic experience of the best selling novel, Atlas Shrugged, earned $1.7 million from about 300 theaters! The filmmakers stated that the turn out for the film for opening weekend was “on the upper edge of their expectations.” This film gave an even bigger splash because of the less-than-exciting line up of Hollywood films.
Box Office Mojo is the popular gauge of how films perform in regards to turnout and money. Although Atlas Shrugged performed better than most thought, especially in places like New York, Portland, and Atlanta…the President of Box Office Mojo was less than impressed with Kaslow’s interpretation of Atlas Shrugged: Part 1, stating:
“Atlas Shrugged Part I’s opening was fine. But for the first ever adaptation of Ayn Rand’s popular and influential novel that had far more media hype than any other independent movie could dream of, it was disappointing.”
Yikes! However, his opinion isn’t the only one that matters. Skeptic Magazine Editor and Chief, Michael Shermer, applauded the film and the hard work of the independent filmmakers. The more I dug into reviews, the more I saw people were content…but few spilled their undying love for the production. Some compared it to a made-for-TV movie, others believed there was a true spirit and beauty in the story.
If you Google Atlas Shrugged today you’ll have TONS of options to read. I sifted through quite a bit and barely made a dent. I think that alone is a win for the producer’s of the film. The media is buzzing about it, good or bad, they are getting a lot of coverage. I’d contribute a lot of this buzz to their offers received over the weekend from major studios for overseas representation!
I was pleased with the Atlas Shrugged film experience, and yes I have read the book so that makes me a bit more bias…however it was a task that needed to be taken on. It was, and it was done well. Congrats to the producers, crew, actors, and investors! What an achievement.
