Depending on which story you believe, an Atlas Shrugged movie is either just around the corner, or as unlikely to happen as it has been for the past 25 years or so.
First, we have reports that Charlize Theron has expressed interest in a role in the movie:
The 37-year effort to bring “Atlas Shrugged” to the screen is finally gaining momentum.
Sort of.
Oscar winner Charlize Theron has been meeting during the past several months with Lionsgate and producers Howard and Karen Baldwin, who are developing the project’s latest iteration, about starring as main character Dagny Taggart.
Theron has been eager to play the role but has been concerned that a feature would lose many of the nuances of the monster-sized novel. So the Rand adaptation would, under a plan she and producers discussed, be turned into a miniseries for Epix, the pay-cable network Lionsgate is forming with MGM and Viacom/Paramount.
The project, according to this plan, would be to make the mini one of the fledgling network’s programming linchpins. While insiders are not ruling out the possibility of releasing a condensed version to theaters, the main thrust would be the network, where the mini could be used to lure the book’s legion of fans to subscribe.
Theron, who recently signed with WME after years without an agent, has a history of embracing difficult roles. She took the role of a prostitute-turned-killer in “Monster,” which won her an Oscar. She’s also had parts in the sexual-harassment drama “North Country” and the upcoming apocalyptic tale “The Road.”
But her involvement remained uncertain at press time.
As one blogger reminds us, though, we’ve heard this song before.
If these reports are believed, it sounds like the idea of a big-screen adaptation is going out the window and they’re focusing on a miniseries. On a pay-cable network. That doesn’t exist yet.
Yea, I’m thinking that my initial prediction will end up being true.
H/T: Diana Hsieh
