This post tracks developments in the Zack Snyder Fountainhead film adaptation, an upcoming third cinematic version of the controversial novel by Ayn Rand. The novel was previously made into a film by King Vidor in 1949 and by Indian director Agradoot in 1958.
9-20-20 | Zack Snyder’s Fountainhead on “Back-Burner”
Per Screenrant, “Most notably, the filmmaker raised more than a few eyebrows when he revealed his plans to turn writer Ayn Rand’s infamous ode to Objectivism, the 1943 novel The Fountainhead, into a movie (and, later, a miniseries) in 2016. In a wise decision, he’s shifted the project over to the back-burner until further notice, citing the present political climate as a major motivating factor in his decision.” Well, when the left can summon a violent mob to your home or workplace at will, hound you in the street or at restaurants, and destroy your property, and little or nothing is done about it by authorities, then yes, you no longer have the creative freedom to do something like this.
4-4-19 | Zack Snyder On Defensive Over Fountainhead
The Playist reports that Zack Snyder commented on his version of The Fountainhead in a ComicBookDebate interview, describing the novel rather oddly as “super fun and crazy.” That might suggest he has no idea what he is doing; but what Snyder has said previously about it being a “thesis on the creative process” tells me that he does. Don’t underestimate him. It sounds like he’s on the defensive and trying to lighten the mood. You can imagine what it’s like doing an Ayn Rand film in Hollywood. “It’s still important to me, but it’s a really touchy subject right now,” said Snyder. “People will think it’s hardcore right-wing propaganda, but I don’t view it like that. I just think the story is super fun and crazy and melodramatic about architecture and sex.” Regarding Ayn Rand, he commented: “I think she’s incredible and insane and she always said story first, not regarding her politics…But it was easy for her to fall victim to her own popularity, and she drank her own Kool-Aid…She didn’t give a fuck. If she was alive right now she would’ve fucking murdered Donald Trump. She didn’t even like Reagan! She thought he was a nationalist. But I’m rambling now, sorry!”
4-4-19 | Zack Snyder Hints To Fans: Be Open To Something “New”
In a recent interview, Zack Snyder seemed to be putting the Marvel comic world behind him, and hinting that he was about to make a major departure in his filmmaking. Reported CinemaBlend, “A lot of his success has come thanks to his work adapting stories from comics, and the truth is that it’s been nearly a decade since he made a film not based on the material. However, he does seem to be moving away from that arena with his in development projects…Could his desire to see fans open themselves up to material beyond the comic book realm be a reflection of his own trajectory?”
1-8-19 | The Stone Quarry: Zack Snyder Launches New Production Company
No one seems to be reporting on the connection, but Zack Snyder just launched his new production company under the moniker “The Stone Quarry.” It just happens that his next film, The Fountainhead, takes place, in part, in a stone quarry. “The new company will work on film, television, and animation, and which Snyder described as a ‘sacred creative space’ that was four years in the making.”
5-29-18 | IMDB Adds Official Fountainhead Page
The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) has created a page to track developments of the new Zack Snyder Fountainhead film, usually a good sign that it’s beyond the theoretical stage.
5-28-18 | Snyder Confirms Fountainhead Will Be His Next Film
“Zack Snyder said in response to a fan question on the social-media site Vero that his next project will be The Fountainhead, an adaptation of Ayn Rand’s 1943 novel.”
9-20-17 | Snyder Still Working on Script
It was only a recent comment in the press, but the fact that filmmaker Zack Snyder specifically mentioned he was continuing to work on his script for a remake of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead means there is still life in the project. Per Dark Horizons, “Snyder’s next film will be the Afghan war drama The Last Photograph which he’s tweaking and prepping for in coming months, while he’s also still working on the script for his adaptation of Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead.”
3-18-16 | Reason Says Synder Right Guy to Remake Fountainhead
“Snyder’s views on heroism thus might be perfectly suited to properly present Rand’s Roark, whose heroism is expressed via the freely chosen expression of his own genius, ignoring or fighting against the pressures of the leading minds of his field, of the market, and of other people’s needs.”
3-18-16 | Salon Slams Snyder for Liking Ayn Rand
“Zack Snyder’s announcement on Thursday that he has ‘been working on [Ayn Rand’s] The Fountainhead, because he’s always ‘felt like it was such a thesis on the creative process and what it is to create something’ only surprised those who haven’t been paying attention to Snyder’s particular brand of formally derivative, philosophically empty film-making, in which rich comic-book tapestries are ripped from their panels and transformed into pointless spectacles of sex and violence.”
3-17-16 | Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead Slated for Film Remake
Director Zack Snyder, best known for action and science fiction films, is working on film adaptation of The Fountainhead. “I’ve always felt like The Fountainhead was such a thesis on the creative process and what it is to create something. Warner Bros. owns [Ayn Rand’s] script and I’ve just been working on that a little bit.”