It has been said that Ayn Rand’s infamous novel Atlas Shrugged could never be made into a film. In fact, film versions of the gargantuan novel were attempted over the past 40 years, but creative differences got in the way and the projects never came to fruition. That is until yesterday, when producer John Aglialoro and director Paul Johansson’s film was finally released to the public, albeit limited to 300 theaters nationwide.
So what were the results?
Let’s look at the numbers first. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, Atlas Shrugged: Part 1, which was filmed with a meager $5 million budget, brought in $683,000 on Friday, the film’s opening night. It placed 13th overall in total box office receipts for the day. Not too shabby.
There is another interesting metric that BoxOfficeMojo.com provides. It breaks down a film’s estimated gross on a per theater basis. This is a fair thing to do considering Atlas Shrugged was only shown in 300 theaters and, say, Rio, the number one grossing film for the day, was shown in 3,826.
Atlas Shrugged’s per theater gross was $2,277, ranking third for the day. Rio’s per theater gross, on the other hand, was $2,666. One has to wonder, then, if Atlas Shrugged’s opening day would have grossed more if it would have received a wider release. After all, it’s per theater take was very near the number one grossing film for the day.
As a personal anecdote, I tried to purchase tickets for the Friday showing in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night, but all of the times were already sold out. This is at least some evidence that the demand for the movie was higher than the supply.
Hopefully the numbers can stay high for the whole weekend. More sales on Saturday and Sunday could make for a surprising opening weekend and thus a wider distribution for the film.
While the film seems to be doing well in the theaters where it was released, most critics seem to be knocking it. Take Roger Ebert as an example:
So OK. Let’s say you know the novel, you agree with Ayn Rand, you’re an objectivist or a libertarian, and you’ve been waiting eagerly for this movie. Man, are you going to get a letdown. It’s not enough that a movie agree with you, in however an incoherent and murky fashion. It would help if it were like, you know, entertaining.
Again, most critics seem to agree with Ebert. On the movie rating website RottenTomatoes.com, Atlas Shrugged has a mere 5% positive reviews based on 20 professional critics. On MetaCritic, it has a 27 out of 100.
The users of RottenTomatoes, however, seem to have a different point of view. The average rating for the film amongst those users who have seen it is 3.8/5, a far cry from 5% or 26 out of 100. And, I shouldn’t fail to point out that the audience average is based on over 7,000 reviews. One of those amateur reviewers says:
Powerful movie. It is very fast paced and true to the book. Many lines are lifted right from the book. The acting is uneven, but the movie works. I hope they make the sequels.
Similarly, the average user rating on Fandango.com is “Must Go!,” which is the highest possible rating.
The acting seems to be one of the largest complaints consistent throughout many of the professional and audience reviews. Yet, it must be difficult to find top notch acting on such a small budget. It also doesn’t help when most of the major talent agencies straight up refuse to work with a producer.
Here is hoping that the buzz keeps up, the tickets keep selling, and that parts two and three of the film are released.
Similar Posts:
- Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 expanding to 1,000 theaters
- My take on Atlas Shrugged: Part 1
- Interview with Atlas Shrugged producer Harmon Caslow
- Stephen Colbert roasts Atlas Shrugged film
- Filed under: Life imitates art
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