This past week Atlas Shrugged producer John Aglialoro told the New York Times, "Critics, you won," adding, "I'm having deep second thoughts on why I should do Part 2." Given a release on only 299 screens and the reality of openly hostile critics of such a conservative/libertarian free market opus from Ayn Rand, I'm surprised it was seen by as many people as it was.
Published in 1957, it has taken over 50 years for this classic tale to make it onto the big screen and Mr. Aglialoro is contemplating failure only two weeks after the film has been released? Oh my.
How long did it take Hank Rearden to perfect the alloy recipe for Rearden Metal? How long did it take John Galt to create his new motor? How long did it take for Ayn Rand to develop her philosophy of Objectivism? Even getting this movie to the screen took Mr. Aglialoro 20 years.Some things are ahead of their time. Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center invented the desktop PC in the mid 1970s but shelved it. Steve Job's NeXT Computer used an optical CD-ROM drive, but it failed. MySpace was to create an entirely new discipline of Social Media. Star Trek the Original Series used the Floppy Disk, the Flip Phone and the Tricorder handheld smart device -- in 1966.
A few days later Mr. Aglialoro suggested he should spend more money on traditional advertising before he pulls the plug on Episodes II & III. Perhaps we simply need to wait until more folks realize the folly of centralized government control.
