Atlas Shrugged: Part I | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Paul Johansson |
Produced by |
John Aglialoro Harmon Kaslow |
Screenplay by | John Aglialoro Brian Patrick O'Toole |
Based on |
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand |
Starring |
Taylor Schilling Grant Bowler Matthew Marsden Edi Gathegi Jsu Garcia Michael Lerner |
Music by | Elia Cmiral |
Cinematography | Ross Berryman |
Edited by | Jim Flynn Sherril Schlesinger |
Production
company |
The Strike Productions
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Distributed by |
Rocky Mountain Pictures 20th Century Fox |
Release date
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Running time
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102 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $20 million |
Box office | $4,627,375 |
Atlas Shrugged: Part I is a 2011 American political science fiction drama film directed by Paul Johansson. An adaptation of part of Ayn Rand's controversial 1957 novel of the same name, the film is the first in a trilogy encompassing the entire book. After various treatments and proposals floundered for nearly 40 years, investor John Aglialoro initiated production in June 2010. The film was directed by Paul Johansson and stars Taylor Schilling as Dagny Taggart and Grant Bowler as Hank Rearden.
The film begins the story of Atlas Shrugged, set in a dystopian United States where John Galt leads innovators, from industrialists to artists, in a capital strike, "stopping the motor of the world" to reassert the importance of the free use of one's mind and of laissez-faire capitalism.
A sequel film, Atlas Shrugged: Part II was released on October 12, 2012. The third part in the series, Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who Is John Galt? was released on September 12, 2014.
It is 2016 and the United States is in a sustained economic depression. Industrial disasters, resource shortages, and gasoline at $37/gallon have made railroads the primary mode of transportation, but even they are in disrepair. After a major accident on the Rio Norte line of the Taggart Transcontinental railroad, CEO James Taggart shirks responsibility. His sister Dagny Taggart, Vice-President in Charge of Operation, defies him by replacing the aging track with new rails made of Rearden Metal, which is claimed to be lighter yet stronger than steel. Dagny meets with its inventor, Hank Rearden, and they negotiate a deal they both admit serves their respective self-interests.