A sequel to Atlas Shrugged is still in the works...

...for better or worse, according to 24 Frames:

Atlas Shrugged: The Trilogy is still alive. The producers of the Ayn Rand adaptation will bring the first part of their planned series to home-entertainment platforms this fall, courtesy of a deal with 20th Century Fox, and expect to begin production on "Atlas Shrugged: Part 2" in September. They hope to bring the new film to theaters during the 2012 election season.

"Atlas Shrugged: Part 1," the low-budget adaptation of the first third of Rand's dystopian novel, grossed $4.6 million during its five-week theatrical run this spring. After the film drew scathing reviews, producer John Aglialoro said he was reconsidering whether to move forward with two sequels.

Now Aglialoro has resumed those efforts, according to producer Harmon Kaslow, and will devote all revenue from the release of "Atlas Shrugged: Part 1" to financing "Atlas Shrugged: Part 2."

"John has a much clearer perspective," Kaslow told 24 Frames. "He’s always wanted to have a studio level support for the film and I think feels that his effort in producing Part 1 has been validated by having the largest home video distributor in America aboard."

The producers are retaining the home entertainment rights, but are paying a distribution fee to Fox to release the film on DVD, Blu-Ray, digital download and video on demand, according to Kaslow. He said the deal was born of strategy, not necessity.

"What we discovered with the film is that it really doesn’t fit squarely into a lot of business models," said Kaslow. "We got incredible grass roots and community level support for the movie, but what we didn’t have was the polished marketing edge that the studios have perfected. Now we get to use their marketing, their fulfillment capacity. We think that makes more sense for us than mortgaging those rights off for a number."

Deals for TV and pay-TV airings are being negotiated, Kaslow said, and the producers have retained a foreign sales agent to secure international theatrical releases.

Aglialoro, the CEO of exercise-equipment company Cybex, spent $20 million to produce, distribute and market the movie, which was directed by first-timer Paul Johansson and stars Taylor Schilling (as railroad executive Dagny Taggart) and Grant Bowler (as steel magnate Hank Rearden).

Rand's novel, a touchstone work among many conservatives, takes place at an unspecified future time in which the U.S. is stuck in a depression and a mysterious phenomenon is causing the nation's leading industrialists to disappear.

Kaslow said the release of "Atlast Shrugged: Part 2" next year in theaters will be timed to capitalize on the national mood during the presidential election. "There will be a debate going on about the direction of the country, and a lot of the groups who have embraced Ayn Rand’s philosophies will be engaged," he said.

The filmmakers, who self-distributed and marketed "Atlas Shrugged: Part 1" as "the movie liberal Hollywood doesn't want you to see" may partner with a studio distributor this time around, Kaslow said.

"John appreciates the autonomy that came with spending his own money and doing his own theatrical release," Kaslow said. "But he realizes that the motion picture business is especially challenging and there are a number of things studios do better than anybody else."

-Joey's Two Cents: I've only heard phenomenally dreadful things about the first installment, so one assumes that the next one can't be as bad, but who knows...thoughts?

Did the critical thrashing of Atlas Shrugged kill the next two installments?

Possibly, according to 24 Frames:

Twelve days after opening "Atlas Shrugged: Part 1," the producer of the Ayn Rand adaptation said Tuesday that he is reconsidering his plans to make Parts 2 and 3 because of scathing reviews and flagging box office returns for the film.

"Critics, you won," said John Aglialoro, the businessman who spent 18 years and more than $20 million of his own money to make, distribute and market "Atlas Shrugged: Part 1," which covers the first third of Rand's dystopian novel. "I’m having deep second thoughts on why I should do Part 2."

"Atlas Shrugged" was the top-grossing limited release in its opening weekend, generating $1.7 million on 299 screens and earning a respectable $5,640 per screen. But the the box office dropped off 47% in the film's second week in release even as "Atlas Shrugged" expanded to 425 screens, and the movie seemed to hold little appeal for audiences beyond the core group of Rand fans to whom it was marketed.

Aglialoro attributed the box office drop-off to "Atlas Shrugged's" poor reviews. Only one major critic -- Kyle Smith of the New York Post -- gave "Atlas" a mixed-to-positive review, calling the film "more compelling than the average mass-produced studio item." The movie has a dismal 7% fresh rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes thanks to critics like the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips, who said "Atlas" is "crushingly ordinary in every way." Roger Ebert called the film "the most anticlimactic non-event since Geraldo Rivera broke into Al Capone’s vault," while Rolling Stone's Peter Travers said the movie "sits there flapping on screen like a bludgeoned seal."

"The New York Times gave us the most hateful review of all," said Aglialoro, who also has a writing credit on the movie. "They didn’t cover it."

The novel, a sacred text among many conservatives for Rand's passionate defense of capitalism, takes place at an unspecified future time in which the U.S. is mired in a deep depression and a mysterious phenomenon is causing the nation's leading industrialists to disappear or "strike."

Aglialoro's 97-minute adaptation is directed by first-timer Paul Johansson and stars little-known TV actors Taylor Schilling (as railroad executive Dagny Taggart) and Grant Bowler (as steel magnate Hank Rearden).

Though the film has made only $3.1 million so far, Aglialoro said he believes he'll recoup his investment after TV, DVD and other ancillary rights are sold. But he is backing off an earlier strategy to expand "Atlas" to 1,000 screens and reconsidering his plans to start production on a second film this fall.

"Why should I put up all of that money if the critics are coming in like lemmings?" Aglialoro said. "I’ll make my money back and I'll make a profit, but do I wanna go and do two? Maybe I just wanna see my grandkids and go on strike."

Aglialoro, who is chief executive of the exercise equipment manufacturer Cybex, said he is not completely finished with Hollywood, however. An avid poker player who won the U.S. Poker Championship in 2004, he has a dramatic script called "Poker Room" in development. "Maybe the critics will be kinder to that one," he said.

-Joey's Two Cents: I'm not particularly upset that an awful (by all accounts) movie won't have two sequels made of it, but that's just me...thoughts?

Box Office Actuals: April 22-24, 2011

Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, and other sources:

Animated family musical adventure "Rio" held its estimated #1 ranking when actual numbers were calculated from the Easter weekend box office. Grossing $26.3 million, "Rio" held off Tyler Perry's latest ensemble film, "Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family", which amassed $25.1 million to land in second place. "Rio" continued its incredible worldwide run where the film has banked $206 million overseas. Nearing $300 million in total gross after just 3 weeks is an impressive feat.

"...Madea..." was the 6th film to feature Tyler Perry as his cross-dressing grandmother character and continued the trend of Perry films not being screened for critics in advance of their release. At this point, the brand has been built and Perry's franchise now guarantees openings on par with this one. Perry's latest opened on more screens than any of his other films to date, appearing at 2,288 sites. All in all, this was the fourth best opening for a Perry-directed film and if history holds, "...Madea..." will have a decent second weekend and then likely drop substantially in its third weekend.

The romantic drama "Water For Elephants" was overestimated and came in at $16.8 million, which tempered excitement slightly. If "Water" can hold a good second weekend audience, the film could finish in the $50 million range for its total box office run; a vast improvement over Pattinson's "Remember Me" which earned a mere $19.1 million in the spring of 2010. For Reese Witherspoon, the film served as her biggest opening since the 2008 holiday comedy "Four Christmases" ($31.2 million to start) and matched her 2005 romantic dramedy, "Just Like Heaven", which started at $16.4 million.

DisneyNature's third straight Easter weekend release, "African Cats" landed in 6th place with a $6.0 million start, which with actual receipts counted was nearly identical to last year's opening frame for "Oceans". It is hard to tell if Disney is happy that this opening matched "Oceans", which seemed a disappointment last year when compared to "Earth"'s success in 2009. "African Cats" should fall just short of $20 million when it completes its overall run.

"Scream" is silenced, "Atlas..." does indeed shrug, "I Am" takes a stand and more analysis after the cut:


"Scream 4" suffered the second biggest dropoff of the weekend, hemorrhaging 62% of its audience in its second weekend. Horror films typically drop big in their second weekend, but this was a staggering fall and makes it even more of a box office dud than originally anticipated.

"Atlas Shrugged Part I" lost nearly half of its audience after expanding into 166 more locations. The film raised some eyebrows with its $1.7 million opening last weekend and those who dared estimate its second weekend, where all over the map with projections. Ultimately, the interest was not there and the film plummeted to $881k. The film's expansion was the largest of the weekend, making its diminished returns a major disappointment for Rocky Mountain Films and those eagerly awaiting Parts II and III.

On the flipside, Tom Shadyac's "I Am" built on a much-talked about appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show and tiny distributor Paladin Pictures pushed the film into 11 new sites, showing it at 24 locations. The reaction was staggering as the film grossed $131k and gained 522.6% in total audience. The introspective documentary is resonating with audiences and has already become 5:1, Paladin's highest grossing film in their 4-year existence. Already in theaters for 10 weeks, this film looks to continue its rollout and might be around for quite a while.

"I Am"'s success rained on the parade of Morgan Spurlock's anticipated third documentary, "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold". Spurlock's film opened at a fair $118k on 18 screens, besting the $102k opening his "Where In The World Is Osama Bin Laden?" had on 102 screens in 2008.

Oscar-nominated "Incendies" (Best Foreign Language Film) had the best per screen average of the weekend, grossing just under $51k at 3 locations. The film opened to rave reviews once critics were able to finally weigh in on the film.

"Meek's Cutoff" expanded to 6 locations and improved over 150% from the previous weekend. Oscilloscope has been arguably too cautious in letting people see the much talked about film and the film has earned $88k in 17 days of release.

THE WEEKEND BREAKDOWN

#1 Film - "Rio", earned $26.3 million

Last Year's #1 Film at this time: "How To Train Your Dragon", earned $15.4 million

Biggest Per Screen Average: "Incendies", $16,893 at 3 locations ($51k cumulative)

Worst Per Screen Average (50+ Sites): "The Last Lions", $130 at 59 locations ($7,683,
$625k cumulative)

Largest Increase (50+ Sites): "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never", +279.1%

Steepest Decline (50+ Sites): "Tangled", -63.3%

Films Earning More Than $1m for the weekend: 16

Films Which Surpassed $100m: "Hop"

Films Which Surpassed Reported Budget This Weekend: "Hanna"

The Top 40, with other notables!

TW	LW	DAY	FILM (STUDIO)	WKD	TOTAL	% CHG
1	1	10	Rio (20th Century Fox)	$26.3m	$80.8m	-32.9
2	N	3	Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family (Lionsgate)	$25.1m	$25.1m	New
3	N	3	Water For Elephants (20th Century Fox)	$16.8m	$16.8m	New
4	3	24	Hop (Universal)	$12.2m	$100.2m	+13.7
5	2	10	Scream 4 (Weinstein/Dimension)	$7.0m	$31.0m	-62.4
6	N	3	African Cats (Buena Vista)	$6.0m	$6.0m	New
7	5	17	Soul Surfer (TriStar/FilmDistrict)	$5.4m	$28.5m	-25.2
8	4	17	Hanna (Focus)	$5.3m	$31.7m	-27.3
9	7	24	Insidious (FilmDistrict)	$5.2m	$44.0m	-22.8
10	8	24	Source Code (Summit)	$5.1m	$44.7m	-18.0
11	6	17	Arthur (Warner Bros.)	$4.1m	$29.2m	-39.8
12	10	38	Limitless (Relativity)	$2.7m	$74.0m	-27.2
13	11	10	The Conspirator (Roadside Attractions)	$2.2m	$6.9m	-37.5
14	12	38	The Lincoln Lawyer (Lionsgate)	$1.8m	$53.4m	-38.0
15	9	17	Your Highness (Universal)	$1.7m	$19.8m	-57.5
16	15	38	Win Win (Fox Searchlight)	$1.1m	$6.6m	-13.2
17	13	31	Diary Of A Wimpy Kid...Rodrick Rules (20th Century Fox)	$933k	$50.3m	-55.2
18	14	10	Atlas Shrugged Part I (Rocky Mountain)	$881k	$3.1m	-47.8
19	16	45	Jane Eyre (Focus)	$737k	$7.9m	-25.8
20	18	17	Born To Be Wild IMAX (Warner Bros.)	$653k	$3.1m	+4.5
21	17	52	Rango (Paramount)	$386k	$119.5m	-46.0
22	22	73	Gnomeo And Juliet (Buena Vista)	$335k	$98.3m	-17.8
23	19	31	Sucker Punch (Warner Bros.)	$279k	$35.9m	-54.0
24	23	52	The Adjustment Bureau (Universal)	$247k	$61.1m	-30.7
25	21	38	Paul (Universal)	$243k	$36.6m	-50.0
26	20	45	Battle: Los Angeles (Sony)	$204k	$82.6m	-59.8
27	24	73	Just Go With It (Sony)	$198k	$102.6m	-26.7
28	25	24	The King's Speech PG-13 (Weinstein Co.)	$197k	$2.9m	-22.5
29	31	45	Red Riding Hood (Warner Bros.)	$187k	$37.2m	+47.9
30	42	66	I Am Number Four (Buena Vista)	$185k	$54.4m	+179.6
31	32	402	Hubble 3D (Warner Bros.)	$159k	$24.2m	+46.1
32	30	59	Of Gods And Men (Sony Classics)	$147k	$3.2m	-3.7
33	27	59	Hall Pass (Warner Bros./New Line)	$133k	$44.9m	-43.2
34	56	66	I Am (Paladin)	$131k	$557k	+522.6
35	N	3	POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (Sony Classics)	$118k	$118k	New
36	26	17	No Eres Tu, Soy Yo (Lionsgate)	$116k	$1.2m	-52.7
37	28	66	Unknown (Warner Bros.)	$91k	$63.6m	-46.8
38	41	52	Beastly (CBS Films)	$90k	$27.6m	+28.5
39	37	38	Bill Cunningham New York (Zeitgeist)	$90k	$689k	+14.7
40	34	66	Big Mommas... (20th Century Fox)	$75k	$37.7m	-12.6

BUBBLING UNDER INCREASES AND OPENINGS:

41. “In A Better World” (Sony Classics), $73k, $292k total, +1.0%

42. “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” (Paramount), $67k, $72.8m total, +279.1%

44. “Incendies” (Sony Classics), $51k, NEW

46. “Super” (IFC), $48k, $211k total, +24.6%

48. "The Princess Of Montpensier" (IFC), $36k, $73k total, +53.8%

Box Office Actuals: April 15-17, 2011

Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, and other sources:

Despite a slight overestimation, "Rio" still delivered the biggest opening weekend of 2011 with $39.2 million in box office receipts. "Rio" was just the latest in a steady stream of popular animated features for the year, following in the footsteps of "Hop", "Rango", and "Gnomeo and Juliet". "Rio" has already amassed $170 million in worldwide box office, as the film was released overseas a week ahead of its North American release.

"Rio"'s success was supposed to be in concert with comparable numbers for the much anticipated "Scream 4", a rekindling of the 90's franchise that earned $300 million domestically from its initial trio of films. 11 years went by, the stars of the franchise traveled up and down the A-list, but back together once more, excitement was there. Some terrific reviews, with most of them average-to-good, did not translate to audience. An opening Friday led to a diminished interest as the weekend went on and the film opened to a disappointing $18.7 million. The hopes of a comparable final gross are seemingly dashed as this muted "Scream" should earn approximately $50-$55 million by the end of its run.

Although initially reported as a Top 10 debut for Robert Redford and Roadside Attractions, "The Conspirator" opened at #11 with actual receipts counted. Top 10 debut or not, the film still delivered a comparable number to its estimate with $3.5 million earned at 707 locations. "The Conspirator" has become the largest opening gross for a Roadside Attractions film and could move past the Oscar-nominated "Winter's Bone" ($6.5 million) and "Bella" ($8.1 million) as the upstart's biggest success to date.

The Tea Party-endorsed "Atlas Shrugged Part I" amassed an intriguing $1.7 million at a mere 299 locations. The film, an adaptation from the writings of Ayn Rand, drew miserable reviews from critics but supporters of the film used those dismissals as a galvanizing effort in getting out to see the film. Rocky Mountain Films released the film strategically around the country and received a large amount of promotion for Right-wing and Republican-themed talk shows. This attention allowed Rocky Mountain to save on buying TV ad spots and other expensive marketing vehicles. Time will tell if this is going to sustain a second weekend and Rocky Mountain had not yet announced whether they would be expanding the film this coming weekend.

"Win Win" continues to grow and more analysis after the cut:


Three films held impressive declines within the Top 10. "Soul Surfer" slid a mere 31% in its second weekend as the film moved past its $18 million budget and held a slot in the Top 5. "Insidious" and "Source Code" both retained nearly 75% of its previous weekend's audience and continue to draw steady audiences weeks after their openings. In a third weekend for most horror and science fiction releases, audiences begin to look elsewhere, so both films are showing some impressive stamina.

"Win Win" opened in another 158 locations and saw an 11% bump, earning $1.3 million to bring it's overall take to just over $5.0 million.

The Oscar-winning Best Foreign Language Film, "In A Better World", may seem like a movie lost in the shuffle for those who wanted to see it after it took home the Oscar. It is out there at 30 locations and the film still has a modest per-screen average, gaining 61% with its modest expansion. The film has now earned $183k.

Documentary "Armadillo", a controversial and unflinching look at Danish soldiers fighting in Afghanistan, had a mediocre $4k haul from one site. The film has been compared to a more graphic and shocking documentary in the style of the critically acclaimed "Restrepo".

"The Double Hour", a romantic thriller with a twist, bested last week's opening of Oscar-buzzed "Meek's Cutoff", earning $30k at two locations. "Meek's Cutoff" played in the same sites as its opening weekend and saw receipts fall nearly 30%.

THE WEEKEND BREAKDOWN

#1 Film - "Rio", earned $39.2 million

Last Year's #1 Film at this time: "Kick-Ass", earned $19.8 million

Biggest Per Screen Average: "The Double Hour", $15,123 at 2 locations ($3ok cumulative)

Worst Per Screen Average (50+ Sites): "The Last Lions", $200 at 61 locations ($12,228,
$607k cumulative)

Largest Increase (50+ Sites): "Gnomeo And Juliet", +92.7%

Steepest Decline (50+ Sites): "Red Riding Hood", -75.2%

Films Earning More Than $1m for the weekend: 15

Films Which Surpassed $100m: N/A

Films Which Surpassed Reported Budget This Weekend: Soul Surfer, Source Code

The Top 40, with other notables!

TW	LW	DAY	FILM (STUDIO)	WKD	TOTAL	% CHG
1	N	3	Rio (20th Century Fox)	$39.2m	$39.2m	New
2	N	3	Scream 4 (Weinstein/Dimension)	$18.7m	$18.7m	New
3	1	17	Hop (Universal)	$10.7m	$82.2m	-49.7
4	2	10	Hanna (Focus)	$7.3m	$23.3m	-41.1
5	4	10	Soul Surfer (TriStar/FilmDistrict)	$7.3m	$19.9m	-31.4
6	3	10	Arthur (Warner Bros.)	$6.8m	$22.2m	-44.7
7	5	17	Insidious (FilmDistrict)	$6.7m	$35.9m	-28.0
8	7	17	Source Code (Summit)	$6.2m	$36.9m	-28.2
9	6	10	Your Highness (Universal)	$4.0m	$16.1m	-57.1
10	8	31	Limitless (Relativity)	$3.6m	$69.6m	-33.0
11	N	3	The Conspirator (Roadside Attractions)	$3.5m	$3.5m	New
12	10	31	The Lincoln Lawyer (Lionsgate)	$2.9m	$50.5m	-32.6
13	9	24	Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (20th Century Fox)	$2.1m	$48.1m	-56.4
14	N	3	Atlas Shrugged: Part I (Rocky Mountain)	$1.7m	$1.7m	New
15	16	31	Win Win (Fox Searchlight)	$1.3m	$5.0m	+11.0
16	15	38	Jane Eyre (Focus)	$993k	$6.6m	-14.2
17	11	45	Rango (Paramount)	$716k	$118.8m	-68.9
18	18	10	Born To Be Wild IMAX (Warner Bros.)	$625k	$1.8m	-28.3
19	12	24	Sucker Punch (Warner Bros.)	$606k	$35.3k	-71.2
20	14	38	Battle: Los Angeles (Sony)	$507k	$82.2m	-66.8
21	13	31	Paul (Universal)	$485k	$36.1m	-72.2
22	28	66	Gnomeo And Juliet (Buena Vista)	$408k	$97.8m	+92.7
23	17	45	The Adjustment Bureau (Universal)	$357k	$60.7m	-59.3
24	25	66	Just Go With It (Sony)	$271k	$102.3m	+2.0
25	21	17	The King's Speech PG-13 (Weinstein Co.)	$254k	$2.5m	-49.4
26	19	10	No Eres Tu, Soy Yo (Lionsgate)	$246k	$988k	-58.3
27	24	52	Hall Pass (Warner Bros./New Line)	$235k	$44.6m	-12.1
28	22	59	Unknown (Warner Bros.)	$171k	$63.4m	-38.1
29	32	24	Potiche (Music Box)	$157k	$637k	+13.1
30	30	52	Of Gods And Men (Sony Classics)	$152k	$3.0m	-16.0
31	20	38	Red Riding Hood (Warner Bros.)	$127k	$36.9m	-75.2
32	29	117	True Grit (Paramount)	$105k	$171.0m	-49.9
33	38	395	Hubble 3D (Warner Bros.)	$99k	$23.8m	+4.0
34	31	59	Big Mommas... (20th Century Fox)	$86k	$37.6m	-43.6
35	26	10	Thank You (UTV)	$86k	$392k	-64.8
36	27	145	Tangled (Buena Vista)	$86k	$199.6m	-61.2
37	39	31	Bill Cunningham New York (Zeitgeist)	$78k	$549k	-10.3
38	34	38	Certified Copy (IFC)	$77k	$984k	-30.2
39	82	185	The Salvation Poem (Poema de Salvacion) (CanZion)	$73k	$801k	+1,067.9
40	46	17	In A Better World (Sony Classics)	$72k	$183k	+60.8

BUBBLING UNDER INCREASES AND OPENINGS:

47. “Super” (IFC), $38k, $146k total, +32.6%

48. “Under The Sea 3D” (Warner Bros.), $36k, $26.7m total, +25.0%

51. “The Double Hour” (Samuel Goldwyn), $30k, NEW

54. “The Princess Of Montpensier” (IFC), $23k, NEW

58. "Henry's Crime" (Moving Pictures), $18k, $29k total, +111.9