Atlas Shrugged is a trilogy of American science fiction drama films. The films, based on Ayn Rand's 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged, are subtitled Part I (2011), Part II (2012), and Part III (2014).
The screenplays are written by John Aglialoro and Brian Patrick O'Toole (Part I); Duke Sandefur, O'Toole, and Duncan Scott (Part II); and J. James Manera, Harmon Kaslow, and Aglialoro (Part III). The films take place in a dystopian United States, wherein many of society's most prominent and successful industrialists abandon their fortunes and the nation itself, in response to aggressive new regulations, whereupon most vital industries collapse.
In Part I, railroad executive Dagny Taggart (Taylor Schilling) and steel mogul Henry Rearden (Grant Bowler) form an alliance to fight the increasingly authoritarian government of the United States. In Part II, Taggart (Samantha Mathis) and Rearden (Jason Beghe) search desperately for the inventor of a revolutionary motor as the U.S. government continues to spread its control over the national economy. In Part III, Taggart (Laura Regan) and Rearden (Rob Morrow) come into contact with the man responsible for the strike whose effects is the focus of much of the series.
The critics were not kind to the trilogy and the aggregate USA box office is just under $9M (revenues do not include video and television). The first film, directed by Paul Johansson, stars Taylor Schilling, Grant Bowler, Matthew Marsden, Johansson, Graham Beckel, and Jsu Garcia was released in April 2011 and had a USA box office of $4.5M on a budget of under $5M. Most of the marketing was done online. The second film, directed by John Putch, stars Samantha Mathis, Jason Beghe, Patrick Fabian, D.B. Sweeney, and Esai Morales had a USA box office of $3.3M on a budget of under $10M. The third film, directed by J. James Manera, stars Laura Regan, Rob Morrow, Greg Germann, Kristoffer Polaha, Lew Temple, and Joaquim de Almeida had a USA box office of less than $1M on a budget of under $5M
