ATLAS SHRUGGED PRODUCER: SEQUEL NOT LIKELY

Businessman John Aglialoro, who reportedly spent more than $20 million hoping to bring Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged to the screen as a trilogy, appears to have tossed in the towel after disappointing ticket sales for Part. 1. The film received devastating reviews from critics, and, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Aglialoro blamed them for the film’s failure. “Critics, you won,” Aglialoro told the Times, adding, “I’m having deep second thoughts on why I should do Part 2.” The newspaper observed that only one major film critic gave the film a “mixed-to-positive” review — Kyle Smith of the New York Post, whose reviews are sometimes sprinkled with his conservative/libertarian comments. “The New York Times gave us the most hateful review of all,” said Aglialoro. “They didn’t cover it.” In its first week, the film took in $1.7 million on just 299 screens, but when it was expanded to 425 screens the following week, it dropped 47 percent. He’s now reconsidering expanding it to more than 1,000 screens and starting production on Part 2 in the fall, the Times said. “Why should I put up all of that money if the critics are coming in like lemmings?” Aglialoro asked.