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Ready or Not, Cameras Start Rolling on Film Version of 'Atlas Shrugged"

By Bruce Carton

Sometimes it just takes a firm deadline to prompt action, even after more than a decade of delay. In 1992, John Aglialoro purchased the film rights to Ayn Rand?s epic novel "Atlas Shrugged." Since that time, Aglialoro has shopped the the film to studios and tried to entice big-name stars to take on the lead roles -- with no success (although Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron each reportedly "flirted" with the idea of playing the novel's protagonist, Dagny Taggart). On June 11, however, production began on the film as a "$5 million indie," with Paul Johansson of "One Tree Hill" finally signing on to direct and star "among a low-wattage cast," Deadline reports. Why are the cameras rolling now, when there are no stars and no studio support for the film? According to Aglialoro, "everybody is saying, how can you shoot this movie without a star? We?re shooting it because it?s a good movie with great characters?.? They are shooting it now for another reason, as well. According to Variety, Aglialoro would have lost the feature rights that he paid $1 million for in 1992 if the film wasn't in production by Saturday, June 12. So roll 'em!

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on June 28, 2010 (boomark / email).