The nascent Tea Party movement already proved it could impact elections as well as the national debate on issues like the debt. But can it turn an independent film with a modest budget, no A-list stars and a rather wonky trailer into a box office threat?
“Atlas Shrugged,“ the cinematic retelling of Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel about a plucky railroad executive battling regulations gone wild, hits just under 300 movie screens starting April 15.
Right-leaning films, as rare as they may be, aren’t a sure thing at the box office. The conservative comedy “An American Carol” tanked, and the 2010 fiscal documentary “I Want Your Money” made but a fraction of what a standard Michael Moore movie earns.
Those projects didn’t have the power of Rand’s literary legacy behind them. “Shrugged” remains a fiercely popular book, especially with Tea Partiers who toast Rand‘s small government vision. As of April 12, the book was ranked second in both political fiction and literary classics on Amazon.com.
Can John Galt, the mystery man at the heart of Rand’s tale, give the “Atlas Shrugged” movie financial muscle?
“Atlas Shrugged” producer Harmon Kaslow says the film’s marketing team courted right-leaning groups to help spread the word.
“The constituency for this film is people who believe in limited government and individual freedom,” Kaslow says, “and that’s very much in line with the message, the underlying philosophy, of the Tea Party.”
The film’s backers reached out to FreedomWorks, The Heritage Foundation and CATO, and debuted the “Shrugged” trailer at the CPAC annual event in February.
“Atlas Shrugged” isn’t just ripped from the headlines. It feels like the film’s back story of high gasoline prices, economic woes and a Middle East on fire were just downloaded straight to your neighborhood movie theater.
“It just solidifies how Ayn Rand’s philosophy and view of the world in 1957 is so relevant to what’s going on now, how she was able to see so many years ago that if we followed a path … this is what would happen,” Kaslow says, adding he expects to increase the number of screens showing “Shrugged” to about a 1,000 over the next two weeks. Most mainstream films are shown in anywhere from 2,500 to 3,000 theaters nationwide.
Brandon Gray, president of BoxOfficeMojo.com, says the film’s timing “may carry the day.”
“People are so riled up about what’s going on in the country. Anything that aligns with what they believe in any superficial way may be good enough to get them out [to the theater],” Gray says.
Kyle Smith, film critic for The New York Post, doesn’t expect the film to draw huge crowds, but that is keeping in line with Rand’s fan base.
“Rand-ism has always been somewhat of an underground movement despite the book’s huge sales,” Smith says. “There might well be a couple million diehard Randians out there, but a lot of them probably are such independent would-be Galts that they’d probably scoff at any movie version, not just this one.”
Harry Medved, spokesman for the movie ticketing company Fandango, says the film hits theaters with a considerable built-in audience.
“People are anxiously awaiting the big-screen visualization of the novel,” says Medved, adding the film is “enjoying brisk sales at Fandango.
That anticipation could cut both ways.
“It might not match up to people‘s expectations on how the movie should look. The novel is so well loved, the characters so etched in stone in people’s minds,” he says.
“Atlas Shrugged” is the first film in a planned trilogy covering Rand’s lengthy text. That could cause some confusion in the minds of movie goers, Gray says.
“It’s a bit awkward to say, ‘Part 1’ without a ‘Part 2 and 3’ set in stone. It makes people more weary about seeing it,” he says.
Kaslow notes work has begun on the scripts for the second and third installments, but production on both projects depends on the box office haul from the initial installment.
Gray, who predicts it will be difficult for the film to earn back its production cost (under $10 million) via its theatrical release, says it’s hard to point to any precedents for a production like “Atlas Shrugged.”
“Usually movies made outside the Hollywood system tend to be Christian or religious,” Gray says.
The movie may be targeting a niche, those who align with Tea Party policies, but Gray thinks the film should have had a flashier budget and bigger stars.
“It’s an incredibly popular book,” he says. “Quite frankly, it’s ridiculous how Hollywood has dropped the ball on capitalizing on it.”