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Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who Is John Galt?

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Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who Is John Galt?

Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who Is John Galt? is a 2014 American science fiction political drama film serving as the final installment in a trilogy adapting Ayn Rand's 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged. The film features no cast members from Atlas Shrugged: Part II (2012), which itself featured no returning cast members from Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011), while continuing the story where its predecessor left off. Written and directed by J. James Manera, the film stars Kristoffer Polaha, Laura Regan, Greg Germann, Eric Allan Kramer, Tony Denison, Mark Moses, Lew Temple, Stephen Tobolowsky, Peter Mackenzie, Larry Cedar, Louis Herthum, Neil Dickson, Rob Morrow and Joaquim de Almeida.

The release, originally set for July 4, occurred on September 12, 2014. Like its predecessors, Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who Is John Galt? was a financial and critical failure.

The owner of the 20th-century Motor Company has died and his children have taken over, with a new plan to operate the company: that everyone work as hard as he can, but that salaries be "based on need". A lab engineer named John Galt objects and announces, "I'll stop the motor of the world."

Twelve years later, the economy of the United States spirals downward. Shortages have grounded airlines and returned the railroads to dominance; over-regulation has led to financial disaster. Galt seems to be behind the disappearances of corporate executives and other experts. The latest disappearance is that of Dagny Taggart, the executive officer of the largest railroad company, Taggart Transcontinental. She had chased Galt in a private plane and crashed hers.

Dagny has reached Galt's Gulch, and Galt himself rescues her from the crashed plane. She meets several "disappeared" achievers, such as banker Midas Mulligan, who say they quit after coming to believe that government was enslaving them. On the outside, the government develops a classified new weapon called "Project F" and nationalizes the railroads, including Taggart Transcontinental.

The public grows increasingly frustrated with the central planning, comes to view Galt as the solution, and holds rallies calling for him to reform the government. Thompson, the Head of State, offers Galt a job in the government, but Galt rebuffs the offer. Later, the government tortures Galt using the power of "Project F". However, others from the Gulch arrive to free him and they escape back to their refuge as the power grid around New York City begins to collapse.

In an interview with Bill Frezza of Forbes, producer John Aglialoro mentioned that the film would include a short dialogue between the heroine Dagny Taggart and a priest, a character which he said Rand struggled with and ultimately cut out of the original book. This scene did not appear in the final cut.

A month prior to the release of Part I, Aglialoro suggested that Part III might be made into a musical. In 2013 he promised to create "something closer to the book", and predicted that critics would pan the film. In a YouTube promotional piece where organizers discussed the film, he asserted that it was vital for the team to have a director who is professional, collaborative, and knows Rand's work: "I don't care if I've got to fire five directors — that's fine. We're going to get it right." The film was ultimately directed by J. James Manera.

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