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."

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."

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:

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:

Box Office Bulletin: "Rio" mutes a "Scream"

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

Branded as the comeback weekend for the middling North American box office, 20th Century Fox's "Rio" dominated the weekend, presaged by a huge international opening the weekend prior to its domestic release. "Rio", if numbers hold, will have the largest opening of 2011. With its approximate $40 million North American haul, coupled with $127 million already taken in across the water, "Rio" is the international breakout film of the year and could settle in for a long run at the top of the rankings. "Rio" looks to have virtually no competition for its dollar for the foreseeable future, as next week's "African Cats", and the following week's"Hoodwinked Too!" and "Prom" have a muted interest and/or limited audience at best.

NEW OPENINGS:

Landing in second place is The Weinstein Company and Dimension's joint release, "Scream 4". Projections were high for this franchise's return, which had earned nearly $300 million domestically and was making a much-hyped return to the big screen for the first time in more than 11 years. Message boards were alive, reviews were good-to-mixed, and interest resurfaced in the 3 previous slasher flicks. And then when it opened...no one came. Or at least to the anticipated levels the studio and analysts were expecting. "Scream 4" opened with an estimated $19.3 million and stands to finish in the mid-$50 million range when the film runs its course theatrically, more than $30 million less than "Scream 3"'s take. Reports show that audiences bailed on Saturday and Sunday and may have opted instead to check out another horror flick playing in another theater down the hall, but more on that in a moment.

On just 770 screens, Robert Redford's "The Conspirator" (Roadside Attractions) scored a Top 10 debut and one of the highest per-screen averages for the weekend. Earning $3.9 million with an older-skewing audience, this re-telling of the Abraham Lincoln assassination delivered an impressive cast and became Roadside's biggest opening weekend of all time. It will be interesting how Roadside handles this better-than-expected result, as "The Conspirator" needs only to earn a little less than $5 million going forward to become the studio's biggest grossing film (2007's "Bella" earned just over $8 million). The film could have legs and attendance grew over the weekend with some matinee showings selling out. Stay tuned...

One other notable opening at #14 is the long-simmering "Atlas Shrugged, Part I", an adaptation based on the writings of Tea Party-favorite Ayn Rand. Hollywood has always been interested in bringing Rand's writings to the big screen but it took indie Rocky Mountain Pictures, a studio known for releasing Christian-themed and inspirational fare, to make it a reality. Critics were less than kind to the film and it holds a 10% from Rotten Tomatoes at press time. The film has been a galvanizing entity within the Tea Party movement and on just 300 screens, the film scored an estimated $1.7 million, providing a slightly higher per-screen average than "The Conspirator" and virtually every other film in platform, medium, or wide release not named "Rio" or "Scream 4". The negative reviews were re-tweeted and shared via Tea Party supporters and were seen by some as a catalyst in drumming up impressive attendance numbers. Budgeted at $10 million, Parts II and III are reportedly ready if the film can draw enough money to support their being made.

ALSO OF NOTE

FilmDistrict's first two releases, the inspirational "Soul Surfer" and intense horror film, "Insidious" were quite impressive in their second and third weekends respectively. "Soul Surfer" dropped a mere 30% in its second weekend, a high retention of audience for an inspirational sports drama. But "Insidious", despite sliding to #7 overall, continues to hold strong, slipping a scant 27% and undoubtedly hampering "Scream 4"'s overall take. "Insidious" has earned nearly $36 million on its $1.5 million budget and remains a much buzzed-about and talked about film.

The twisty-turning romantic mystery/thriller, "The Double Hour", an Italian film released by Samuel Goldwyn Company, scored an impressive $15,400 per screen average in its two-screen opening.

Another highly anticipated foreign release from IFC Films, "The Princess of Montpensier", a historical period French film about a female aristocrat forced into an unwanted marriage while she carries on a passionate affair, scored a $7,800 per screen average on 4 screens.

The documentary, "Armadillo", discussed by our own Robert Hamer in his weekend preview, did not have its estimates reported.

Overall, the weekend box office surged to nearly $120 million grossed by the Top 12 films, a gain of 16.6% from the previous weekend, and earning the highest tally amongst the Top 12 since "Rango" opened on March 4.

THE TOP 10 (Estimates, with Actuals reported on Monday)

1. "Rio" (20th Century Fox), $40.0 million, NEW
2. "Scream 4" (Weinstein/Dimension), $19.3 million, NEW
3. "Hop" (Universal), $11.2 million, $82.6 million, 3 wks
4. "Soul Surfer" (TriStar/FilmDistrict), $7.4 million, $20.0 million, 2 wks
5. "Hanna" (Focus), $7.3 million, $23.3 million, 2 wks
6. "Arthur" (Warner Bros.), $6.9 million, $22.3 million, 2 wks
7. "Insidious" (FilmDistrict), $6.9 million, $36.0 million, 3 wks
8. "Source Code" (Summit), $6.3 million, $37.0 million, 3 wks
9. "The Conspirator" (Roadside), $3.9 million, NEW
10. "Your Highness" (Universal), $3.9 million, $16.0 million, 2 wks