''Atlas Shrugged'' is a

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

of American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

drama films In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

. The series,

adaptations In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...

's 1957 novel of the same title, are subtitled ''

Part I Part, parts or PART may refer to: People *Armi Pärt (born 1991), Estonian handballer *Arvo Pärt (born 1935), Estonian classical composer * Brian Part (born 1962), American child actor * Dealtry Charles Part (1882–1961), sheriff (1926–1927) ...

'' (2011), ''

Part II Part Two, Part 2 or Part II may refer to: Films and television * "Part 2" (Twin Peaks), also known as "The Return, Part 2", the second episode of the third season of the TV series ''Twin Peaks'' Music * ''Part Two'' (Throbbing Gristle album), 200 ...

'' (2012) and ''

Part III ''Part III'' is the third studio album by American R&B group 112. It was released by Bad Boy Records on March 20, 2001 in the United States. Unlike the previous releases, the album is described as having edgier, techno-flavored jams, resulting ...

'' (2014); the latter sometimes includes ''Who Is John Galt?'' in the title.

Synopsis

The films take place in a

dystopian A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

United States, wherein many of society's most prominent and successful industrialists abandon their fortunes as the government shifts the nation towards socialism, making aggressive new regulations, taking control of industries, while picking winners and losers. *In ''Part I'', railroad executive

Dagny Taggart This is a list of characters in Ayn Rand's 1957 novel '' Atlas Shrugged.'' Major characters The following are major characters from the novel. Protagonists Dagny Taggart Dagny Taggart is the protagonist of the novel. She is vice-president in ...

(

Taylor Schilling Taylor Jane Schilling (born July 27, 1984) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Piper Chapman on the Netflix original comedy-drama series ''Orange Is the New Black'' (2013–2019), for which she received a nomination for the Pri ...

) and steel mogul Henry Rearden (

Grant Bowler Grant Bowler (born 18 July 1968) is a New Zealand-Australian actor and television presenter who has worked in American, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian film, television, and theatre. He is known for playing the role of Constable Wayne ...

) form an alliance to fight the increasingly authoritarian government of the United States. *In ''Part II'', Taggart (

Samantha Mathis Samantha Mathis (born May 12, 1970) is an American actress and trade union leader who served as the Vice President, Actors/Performers of SAG-AFTRA from 2015 to 2019. The daughter of actress Bibi Besch, Mathis made her film debut in '' Pump Up t ...

) and Rearden (

Jason Beghe Jason Deneen Beghe (; born March 12, 1960) is an American actor. Since 2014, he has starred in the NBC TV series ''Chicago P.D.'' as sergeant Hank Voight. He is also known for starring in the 1988 George A. Romero film '' Monkey Shines'', playin ...

) 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 Robert Alan Morrow (born September 21, 1962) is an American actor and director. He is known for his portrayal of Dr. Joel Fleischman on ''Northern Exposure'', a role that garnered him three Golden Globe and two Emmy nominations for Best Actor i ...

) come into contact with the man responsible for the strike whose effects are the focus of much of the series.

Overview

Production

See '' Part I's production'', '' Part II's production'', '' Part III's production''

Plot

See '' Part I's plot'', '' Part II's plot'', '' Part III's plot''

Cast

Reception

The trilogy received predominantly negative critic reviews and the aggregate USA box office is just under $9 million, with each film performing worse than the last on both accounts. *The first film, directed by

Paul Johansson Paul Joseph Otto Johansson (born January 26, 1964) is an American-born Canadian actor and director in film and television, best known for playing Dan Scott on the WB/ CW series, ''One Tree Hill'', and for his role as Nick Wolfe on the short l ...

, stars

Matthew Marsden Matthew David Marsden (born 3 March 1973) is an English-American actor, producer, singer and former model. He has appeared in films such as '' Helen of Troy'', '' Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid'', '' Tamara'', '' Resident Evil: Extinct ...

, Johansson,

Graham Beckel Graham Stuart Beckel (born December 22, 1949) is an American character actor. He is known for his guest appearances on television but has had roles in several major films as well. He is known for his roles as Franklin Ford in the drama film '' Th ...

and

Jsu Garcia Jesus "Jsu" Garcia (), also credited as Nick Corri (born October 6, 1963), is an American film and television actor and producer. Together with author John-Roger, he runs the production company Scott J-R Productions. Early life Garcia was bor ...

was released in April 2011 and had a USA box office of $4.6 million on a budget of $20 million. Most of the marketing was done online. *The second film, directed by

John Putch John Putch (born July 27, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his recurring role as Bob Morton on the 1970s sitcom '' One Day at a Time'' and as Sean Brody in the film ''Jaws 3-D''. Life and career Putch was born in C ...

, stars

Patrick Fabian Patrick Fabian (born December 7, 1964) is an American film, stage, and television actor. He is known for his role as attorney Howard Hamlin in ''Better Call Saul'' (2015–2022). His film roles include '' End Game'' (2006), ''The Last Exorcism' ...

, D.B. Sweeney and

Esai Morales Esai Manuel Morales Jr. (born October 1, 1962) is an American actor. He has had notable roles in the films '' Bad Boys'' with Sean Penn and '' La Bamba'' with Lou Diamond Phillips (1987). His television roles include the PBS 2002 drama series '' ...

, and had a USA box office of $3.3 million on a budget of $10 million. *The third film, directed by J. James Manera, stars Laura Regan,

Greg Germann Gregory Andrew Germann ( ; born February 26, 1958) is an American actor who is known for playing Richard Fish on the television series '' Ally McBeal'', which earned him a Screen Actors Guild award. He also is known for his roles as Eric "Rico" ...

Kristoffer Polaha Kristoffer Polaha is an American actor and author. He is known for his starring roles on television as Jason Matthews in '' North Shore'', Nathaniel "Baze" Bazile in ''Life Unexpected'', and Henry Butler in '' Ringer''. He has also appeared in ...

Lew Temple Lew Temple (born October 2, 1967) is an American actor, known for his roles as Locus Fender in the action film, ''Domino'', Cal, the diner manager in the comedy-drama ''Waitress'', and Axel in the third season of '' The Walking Dead''. Early li ...

and

Joaquim de Almeida Joaquim António Portugal Baptista de Almeida (born 15 March 1957) is a Portuguese actor. Almeida began his acting career in theatre during the 1980s, he started his film career appearing on the 1982 action film '' The Soldier'', and later ach ...

, and had a USA box office of $0.8 million on a budget of under $5 million.

Home media

''Part I'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

on November 8, 2011; ''Part II'' on February 19, 2013; and ''Part III'' on January 6, 2015.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atlas Shrugged Film series introduced in 2011 2010s drama films 2010s science fiction films American political drama films American science fiction films American dystopian films American film series Films about businesspeople Film series based on American novels Films based on science fiction novels Trilogies 2010s English-language films 2010s American films