You'd need a miniseries that would last for at least 26 episodes of 1 to 2 hours each. Begin with all the main characters, the heroes and the villains, as kids, growing up, forming their world views, all the way through college. Then, show them going out into the world, dealing with their first sets of triumphs and failures, frustrations and victories. Next, comes the achievements - the John Galt Line, Rearden Metal, Hammond Motors, Wyatt Oil, etc. Follow that with the clash between the producers and the looters. Finally, bring on John Galt, and the coup de grace to mooching. It might take even more than 26 episodes, but this level of detail is necessary for the average guy to get it, in its full context.

Absolutely...a mini-series of some sort would be the optimal manner to get the story of Atlas Shrugged across to viewers. AS needs a definite beginning AND end.
I would, happily, purchase the complete mini-series, when it came out.

A TV series is a good suggestion, but most of those never run to a decent conclusion, which (I believe) would damage the original story.

Either way, John Galt's speech will be a sticking point. I think a "pared down" version might be acceptable, with the entire speech offered as an extra feature in a DVD release.

I hear ya. It's interesting because I, personally, have been researching different "escapes" for my family and others.

Note how the concern around government intrusion is at least as relevant today.

thats why AR put the gulch in the book- so people could have some hope while things were crashing

I agree that it can be depressing. I think one of the points is that things have to get pretty bad before they get better. I agree with that view, myself, regarding our economy. Things are going to get very bad. And, I don't think any of us can do anything about it.

Such an undertaking would require a "Harry Potter", "Star Wars", "Hobbit/Ring" series for the story to unfold properly, six 3 to 4 hour installments. Shifting continuity and casts hampered the first try, though it did break ground; the third came across as a cheap B-movie of the Forties. A series would play better, giving time to digest each episode and be truer to the book than the predessor.

Yeah, all I hear now is how socialism will fix our ills. Trump is refreshing in that he doesnt promote that, but picks apart the dumb policies of the current administration and brings them to light.

We desperately need some uplifting stories showing how capitalism can and would result in a better country. Its got to be done in video that people are used to watching, and it needs to show things at a level where people are AT. Philosophy needs to be demonstrated I think in practical terms at this point in time.

but they spend a lot of their lives slowly seeing the economy be depressed. And then how is it built back up? People wont have the money to just instantly improve things.

The way to do it is to make it a Broadway/Roadshow event. It will need an auditorium type venue rather than a movie theater. Starting at 10 am light snacks are served. Movie starts at 11:00 am. Break for lunch, which is served as part of the ticket price. Restart a 2:00 pm for two hours. Break at 4:00 for drinks and snacks bathroom, etc. Movie starts at 5:00 and is over by 7:00 and people can go out or go home for dinner. But first, the most important person on the project must be the writer. Someone who can take the essence of the story, including its salient parts and make an exciting futuristic scifi out of it. You need not hit them over the head with the philosophic aspects, they'll get it. Then you need a director whose vision is identical to the writer's. As Hitchcock said, the actors are chess pieces to be moved by the director. Whew! Well, that's my take. In that way it will become an event, wherever it's shown and not just a movie.

When I first read AS, I said to myself, "This would make a great movie, but it would be too long. They should make a bunch of episodes, an hour and a half or two hours each, and show them on TV for consecutive nights."

That was 1971--years before the first miniseries ("Roots") was made.

It's not so depressing when you finally realize, as Henry Rearden and Dagny Taggart eventually do, that the good guys simply had a place to hide out and wait for the insanity to run its course.

AS, as written, is a bit depressing. We are already depressed now. What we need is an uplifting story of how to get OUT of this mess. Where the good people WIN for a change and things improve in our country.

I think Atlas Shrugged has been played out. What we need is a movie which starts where AS left off- basically the rebuilding of our country and how that could be done. AS #1 was well done, but the remaining 2 installments were pretty unimpressive, almost to the point of being boring. The actors were not good and it left you hanging s to what we can do NOW.

I think that you are right in thinking that the original idea was for a three year mini-series with thirteen episodes for each year. I was pleased. But now it's been pared way down. I do wish that the mini series would be MUCH longer than eight hours.

A movie wouldn't do justice to the story. I wanted to see a series with, at minimum, three seasons of ten one-hour episodes each. Like the Showtime treatment of King Henry VIII and Pope Alexander VI.

Some here have talked about following everyday people trying to make it in the world where everything is degenerating and finally collapsing. You could do a tragic story on the farmer who died on the road in Minnesota, a sack of wheat slung over his shoulder. Or a story on any of a number of characters you saw who took John Galt's advice and headed for the high hills. I'd like to see a new story on an amateur sailor who literally runs away to sea and seeks out Ragnar Danneskjöld, with a view to joining him.

I could imagine the mini-series becoming a hit show like Battlestar Gallactica did.

I would love stories about everday people in AS working to survive despite gov't moving things around on account of favors. I imagined people that AS didn't focus on surviving in spite of the looting policies.

I am excited about the mini-series talk. Al Ruddy is an interesting character.

Agreed. I like that idea more too.

I prefer the idea of the 8to9 hour series. There's just too much to put in a movie.