It’s a bit surprising that Ayn Rand’s 1957 book Atlas Shrugged has never been made into a movie before, but the time has never been more perfect to bring it to the big screen. A director has finally been named for the project in Vadim Perelman (House of Sand and Fog, In Bloom), and he will work on rewriting a script that was originally penned by Randall Wallace (Braveheart, Pearl Harbor). Angelina Jolie is attached to star in the lead role as Dagny Taggart.

Atlas Shrugged is an ambitious work of science-fiction that delves into a great many topics including politics, economics and philosophy. In the book, the great minds of society (scientists, inventors, artists, entrepreneurs) decide to go on strike after feeling underappreciated by the rest of the world, and the whole system comes crashing down around them. Eventually it is overtaken by looters and criminals. This movie could be really cool, especially if they maintain the art deco style that is frequently associated with it, although I’m guessing they would need to find a way to make it seem a little less preachy. Recently, the smash hit video game Bioshock by 2K Boston was heavily influenced by Atlas Shrugged, taking place in a Utopian underwater city that has similarly fallen into shambles. Assuming Perelman’s script gets approved, they are hoping to have the movie in production in early 2008.