Charlize 'Shrugged'?

Here's a curveball: Angelina Jolie's pet project, the long-gestating and difficult to execute adaptation of Atlas Shrugged may finally be coming our with. But without Angelina Jolie. The Hollywood Reporter says the coveted role of Dagny Taggart, protagonist of one of Time's top 100 novels of the 20th century, may instead go to Charlize Theron. It should be pointed out that they're actually two projects, but it's unlikely if the Theron production gets underway next year as planned that the Jolie version would continue to have what little moment it might still have. For the Theron Shrugged, producers Howard and Karen Baldwin would make a TV miniseries for the recently announced network Epix, with Lionsgate is launching with MGM and Viacom. That would certainly be an auspicious way to kick off a network, and I have to say that as much as I admire Jolie's abilities and dedication to this book, it's not easy to picture even a three-hour film based on Ayn Rand's classic. And the mini-series has been given a facelift over the past decade thanks to HBO, and very often, they're among the best viewing in a given year, on television or in film. That, apparently, was also Rand's preferred medium for her book, and now that the mini-series is lining up financiers, it has the clear edge. As for Theron's involvement, the actress is said to be a driving force in the project's development, though she has not officially signed on to star. I'd love to see somebody give this a shot, because the book really is that valuable. Difficult, sure, longer than a loveless marriage, yes, but it's definitely important. However, it's so important that you need to make the film or TV version the right way, so the Epix approach may work, but I'd like to see a few more details first.

Comments

[Jason]

I have a hard time believing that any of these hollywood libs are going to do justice to the important message in Atlas Shrugged. We are currently seeing the mysticism of the "people's state" taking over and I sure don't see people like Jolie or Theron saying anything about it. If you are in favor of what Congress and Obama are attempting to do, fine. But then how can you fairly do justice to a work that is adamantly opposed to everything they stand for. Instead, make a fictional movie based on Das Kapital or the life and times of Lenin or something.

[Get The Big Picture]

I don't have a hard time believing it at all. Or at least, I think they can do as good a job as anyone who is politically aligned with Ayn Rand. The trouble is the density of the piece, not so much the message. Hollywood makes tons of movies that go against the grain of its producers' and stars' political, religious, sexual, and political beliefs.

Having met them, I don't think Joel and Ethan Coen would harm a fly, but if you watch their movies you can get an entirely different perspective. It's storytelling, and if Theron or Jolie are in tune with what the story says, whether or not they agree with it in principle, then what's the problem? I mean, Theron played Aileen Wuornos and produced Monster, and it wasn't because she was in love with what Wuornos stood for.