It’s a real pisser when one of the Big Five studios gets it in mind to finance an adapted screenplay of a popular novel only to botch it beyond comprehension in the process. If you’re a fan of Stephen King, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. The Shining doesn’t count; that was Kubrick. Remember the hellacious Made-For-TV version that came out some years later? Or The Langoliers? How about The Tommyknockers?

Yep.

Popular fiction is one thing but when it comes to adapting beloved classic achievements in literature, the stakes are raised exponentially. Gone With The Wind worked. Lord of the Rings, too. Love in the Time of Cholera, on the other hand, won the Pulitzer Prize but the movie version is so spectacularly dreadful that it induces adult bed wetting.

But here we are again, only this time the challenge may be insurmountable.

Ayn Rand’s transcending novel Atlas Shrugged is not only one of the longest English-language novels ever written at approximately 1200 pages (give or take depending on the edition), it is equally as dense thematically. Don’t worry, though, I’ll save the discussion on Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism for another day. But if you’ve been fortunate enough to read the book it makes sense why Hollywood bigshots have been trying, and failing, to make this film for 35 years.

The casting of Angelina Jolie in the iconic role of Dagny Taggart all but ensures that the long wait is coming to an end. So, too, is the rumor that Angie’s husband Brad Pitt is in discussions to join the cast. This isn't surprising considering they are both fans of the novel.

But if you’re a screenwriter with a killer idea for an adaptation, consider this:

1. Atlas Shrugged has TWICE been green-lit as a television mini-series, only to fall through at the last minute for NBC and TNT for technical reasons.
2. Due to the novel being divided into three parts, the film version was then tapped to be made into a trilogy. Only the enormous financial burden and accompanying questions of audience interest killed it for potential investors.
3. How do you manage to capture the spirit of the novel while downsizing the many important speeches made by the primary characters that often run 20 or more pages each?

Veteran screenwriter/director Randall Wallace (Braveheart, Pearl Harbor) is the third or fourth professional writer to take a crack at Atlas Shrugged. Talk about having the weight of the world on your shoulders. What’s more, none of the Big Five studios have anything to do with the production. Baldwin Entertainment Group along with Media Talent Group and Plan B Entertainment are carrying the load with Lions Gate in tow for distribution.

Keep in mind that Rand’s first major novel, The Fountainhead, was adapted into a major theatrical production in 1949 but never came close to realizing the philosophical magnificence of the novel despite being directed by the legendary King Vidor while starring Gary Cooper.

If Wallace and director Vadim Perelman (House of Sand and Fog) can pull this off, then they really will have defeated the Los Angeles looters…

By Chris Virnig