There is a difference between having the rights to make a six-hour miniseries and having the funding to make a six-hour miniseries. There is an immense gulf between here and green light.

I have looked up some stats, based on your comment above jlogan, and it seems that you are correct: about half of the women surveyed indicate that they have rape fantasies. Looking a bit further, though, it seems that almost as many men (45%) have fantasies of being raped by a woman. (!)

I have not done further research to see how this varies cross-culturally, but there was a comment, that I think was perceptive, that rape fantasies are stronger in people with sex-guilt association.

So may I change my statement to take this new knowledge into account? I would like to propose that in low-guilt randian archetypes, rape fantasies would be rare and, when they exist, would indicate a flaw in the character that portrayed them.

Jan, thanks for the insight

The worldwide popularity of 50 Shades (primarily millions of women) and survey results that show a majority of women experience rape-fantasizes says that Dagny's view of sex is hardly outmoded. Rand probably tapped into her own feelings on the subject and accepted them as the nature of humans. One can speculate that there was an evolutionary advantage to submission to a dominant male -- helping insure a favorable outcome for the propagation of one's DNA line. These factors are still in play and hardly outmoded. Women will always be attracted to strong men -- all Rand's heroes were strong -- dominant. She would have been horrified by a sexual affair of a dominant female and a cowardly male.

Yes, Taggart Intercontinental Air Lines would be logical. The great disaster would be an incredible one: a mid-air collision involving a coast-to-coast jumbo and a C-19 Globemaster flying for the Air Mobility Command.

Could the valley stay hidden with the kind of false-image projector Rand conceived? I am not convinced. But I am open to argument. Most recon satellites do depend on visible light. Anything that can trick the eye of a pilot looking down, could similarly trick a camera in orbit. But that leaves one more thing John Galt must use: a radar jammer. And very likely a sophisticated heat sink to eliminate or mask the thermal footprint. Much harder. But perhaps no more than a John Galt would be capable of, if he is all that Rand sketched him out to be. (We can't put it in orbit. Dagny would never have reason to stumble onto an orbiting space station by accident.)

The one I'm more interested in is Ragnar Danneskjöld. I can well see him as the terror of the high seas. But what kind of ship would be sail? Here's a thought, that I have put somewhere else on this thread: Ragnar Danneskjöld's first battle, the one where he gets his "minor scrape," is to hijack a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier that is slated for the boneyard in "defense budget cuts." I first conceived this idea in 2013. So my candidate then was USS Enterprise CVN-65. It's too late now; that ship is already in the boneyard--what's left of her. But did you know the Navy has tentative plans to build another ship named Enterprise? That would be USS Enterprise CVN-80, third in the new, heavier Ford class of aircraft carriers. Let Ragnar hijack that ship, and everyone who is not blind, will see the irony.

I would also suggest, of course, that D'Anconia Industries S.A. mine more than just one metal. But let's leave that company's headquarters in South America. Corrupt Latin leftists do make good copy.

The electrostatic motor, I am convinced, would work. I think that's what Nikola Tesla had in mind. The trick would be to make a jet engine that uses an electrostatic booster of some kind--and also a jet airliner with an electrostatic Auxiliary Power Unit. (Today's jets use very weak jet engines as APU's. An electrostatic APU would weigh less and deliver enough energy to relieve the main engines of the duty of power generation for the aircraft's electrical systems. That alone would add value.)

Any other questions?

Everyone is a critic -- but who else has done anything? If you goto YouTube you can find high school film class projects based on Atlas Shrugged.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STnUl...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l_2s...

Dagny in parts I and III worked well, in my mind (though, Taylor Schilling was my favorite, over all).
I don't watch enough TV or movies to know who would be a decent replacement for her.

Atlas Shrugged is a love story. The novel includes elements of mystery, romance, and science fiction.[3][2] Rand referred to Atlas Shrugged as a mystery novel, "not about the murder of man's body, but about the murder — and rebirth — of man's spirit".[9] Nonetheless, when asked by film producer Albert S. Ruddy if a screenplay could focus on the love story, Rand agreed and reportedly said, "That's all it ever was".[4][5] -- Wikipedia

"We need more writers." Will your need produce them in order for them to produce for you?

The message of Atlas Shrugged caught fire 60 years ago. It continues to burn for people for whom it illuminates their inner selves.

Great stuff you write. I think Taggert Airlines would be logical. Rearden Composites makes sense.
I would love 3 seasons with 10 episodes each. However it could just be the budget available. Lets hope for 8 episodes.

VERY good question, plusaf.

Thanks for the hbty wish!
Ah, if you want controversial topics, there are scads of non-PC shows all around. There are enough gay/lesbian/straight-sex subplots in Grey's Anatomy to warm the whatever's of any PC-maven's heart... we like the characters, the subject material and acting and DVR all the episodes for later viewing. Aside from missing lots of dialogue because the background noises and music make it impossible to understand....

She played the part VERY well. She was the perfect Dagny. The next ones were not as good

I am pretty sure that you have to get the actors to sign up for all 3 movies when you do the first one, if you want a consistent set of actors. You can also take the chance - that Agialoro did - that if you use actors who are trying to make their names in the Industry and your first film succeeds, then they will be eager to do the next two. But the Industry did a full-court-press on the actress who played Dagney and pretty much told her that if she was in another episode, she could kiss her acting career good-bye. She played the, "I didn't even know what it was about." card and promised that she was not politically tainted by the contact.

Pity. She played the part well.

Jan

You make me think. Why does a man like this take this on? If there is not a strong desire to really stick to the material, what's going on? You don't acquire this and do this to make a fortune. So, why acquire it and gum it up? I guess time will tell what's going on. If a producer wants to make a fortune they do something much more mainstream...with lots of explosions and nudity.

good points Temlakos.

Thanks for the cordial reply, plusaf. I figured I'd more likely get flamed over my query because it's a rather touchy subject and easy to misread. I'm not hypersensitive about gay issues unless they are being used as some kind of political ploy. My point is I don't want to waste my time watching a propaganda series regardless of how excellent the acting and sets are. My thinking is if a series is going to open with such a hot button issue as gay sex, then what's next? Global warming? Gun control? Evil white male capitalists? Fortunately, being a British production we'd be spared underlying "Hilary for president" innuendo.

Oh, my apologies to khalling for sliding off topic on her thread. I'll stop here.

Edit: Happy Birthday, plusaf!

Atlas Shrugged did have four sci-fi elements: the electrostatic motor, Rearden Metal, Project X, and the refractor-ray cloaking screen. But in fact, I believe I could explain them all. The ray screen obviously needs a souped-up computer to make that work. But the others already have precursors. (I am convinced Rearden Metal combines a substitutional alloy of iron and copper with the interstitial introduction of carbon.)

And let's not forget Ragnar Danneskjöld's vessel. I had thought that if you set it only a few years from our present day, Ragnar could get his ship by hijacking USS Enterprise CVN-65 from the Navy as the Navy were planning to scrap her. I'm sure every viewer would get the irony.If you projected AS a few years into the future, you could have Ragnar somehow capture the new USS Enterprise CVN-80 (a planned Ford-class aircraft carrier) by carefully substituting her launch crew.

Bottom line: I think an updated AS, with references to current or projected modes of transport, could work.

Mr. Ruddy is half right. Atlas Shrugged does give us the love story between Dagny Taggart and John Galt. It also gives us her discovery, not only that John Galt deserves her love, but also that she had been in love with him, without ever knowing anything about him, since she was old enough to learn what love means. "You, whoever you are, whom I have always loved and never found..." Remember?

But Atlas Shrugged is also the self-discovery and escape of Hank Rearden. If Al Ruddy misses Hank Rearden, his series cannot work. He must make sure he gets a few clues. For instance: Ragnar Danneskjöld challenges Rearden on his insistence on law and order. Then in the last chapter we find Rearden as a full member of Ragnar's rescue team. That, sportsfans, is no accident.

I must agree with Flootus5. A six- to eight-hour mini-series would not do this work justice. It needs at least the same kind of treatment Showtime gave to Henry VIII ("The Tudors") and Alexander VI ("The Borgias"). Three seasons, ten episodes each. And with the three-hour speech available as an optional "director's cut."

Why did Mr. Ruddy mention Jeff Bezos at Amazon, do you think? You don't think maybe he's dropping a hint that Mr. Bezos, if he were to back the project, could sell a lot of Amazon Fire TV devices, do you?

Does anyone here imagine what the equivalents of Taggart Transcontinental and Rearden Steel could possibly be, if you updated it for the future? Did Al drop another hint? Taggart Aerospace (the attempt to send a colony to Mars) and Rearden Composites (a new material for spacecraft hulls)?

Frankly I would expect that we're looking at a who-is-John-Galt world right now. And John Aglialoro had a good idea for the famous motor: a quantum motor. He could have explained it better, but he had a good concept. What could be the equivalent in Al Ruddy's mind?

I'm sorry I missed Mr. Ruddy's appearance in the Gulch. I might have been able to discuss some of these concerns with him. But I had a lot of off-line stuff to contend with.

She's definitely not right for that role! Especially considering her other attributes!

I thought the ASP1, the casting was quite good. I was rather disappointed they switched Dagnys for the other parts. She was pretty close to how I see her, and how she's described. AJ would NOT fit that at all! I think he will have a very angry mob on his hands if he screws up trying to do AS....

I'll be first in THAT line [DUH].

oh, YEAH!!

The movie business is hard. So much is a function of finances. Creation of an alternate reality to match a storyline isn't cheap!!!

I don't think they had a choice, term. If the first movie had been a rousing success, then they might have been able to get the same actors for the next episodes...but AS 1 was panned where it was not ignored.

Jan

I hardly ever bothered to listen to her lines...being too busy admiring her other attributes :-)

I'll withhold judgement, until I've seen an episode or two. If, then, I feel the show accurately reflects Ayn Rand's story, I will will pass that info along to my friends and encourage them to watch.
If it "goes off the reservation" and simply turns into another lust fest, I'll turn it off and suggest nobody waste their time with it.
I haven't watched much "prime time" TV, for years, having found nothing of value to spend my time with. If this show can keep my interest, that will be saying something.