ATLAS SHRUGGED: PART I

John Aglialoro financed the film adaptation of his favorite book Atlas Shrugged for a reported $20 million, plus marketing expenses he paid for through rent-a-distributor Rocky Mountain Pictures.  Hoping to spread word of mouth through the right wing political Tea Party, the film opened in 299 theaters to $1,686,347, a number which still had potential to break out and reach an audience.  Atlas Shrugged was rejected by most audiences outside of a small fanatical core base and dropped 47.8% in its second frame, despite expanding to 465 theaters.  It closed after 5 weeks with just $4,627,375 and since the film was independently distributed, Aglialoro saw only a small percentage of the gross (Regal Cinemas only pays out 34% to small distributors for example) which would be about $1.6 million.  Reeling from the financial loss of his dream project, Aglialoro blamed critics for eviscerating Atlas Shrugged and the reason the film bombed.  He initially scrapped the idea of a sequel, again citing that critics will no doubt destroy the follow up, but threw common sense to the wind and financed Part II.  Ignoring the rules of diminishing returns and rejection in the free market, he also finances Part III.