Having shepherded the DC cinematic universe in a direction that the studio is no longer pursuing, Zack Snyder, whether he was relieved of his duties or departed voluntarily, has announced that his next project will be an adaptation of Ayn Rand’s 1943 novel, The Fountainhead.
In 2016, Snyder revealed that he would follow up Justice League, which ended its theatrical run as the lowest-grossing DCEU film to date, with The Last Photograph, an adventurous wartime drama about two men who travel to Afghanistan, currently listed in pre-production by IMDB. However, it would appear that Snyder’s put the Kurt Johnstad (Atomic Blond, 300) collaboration on hold.
Responding to a fan question on Vero, where he handles most of his business these days, the American-born filmmaker was asked what his next project will be, to which he answered in short-form, “Fountainhead.”
A 1943-published novel by Russian-American author Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead shadows an individualistic young architect named Howard Roark, who designs modernist buildings and refuses to compromise his artistic vision for an architectural establishment unwilling to accept innovation.
Rejected by twelve publishers prior to an editor at the Bobbs-Merrill Company risking his job to get it published, The Fountainhead was initially unsuccessful but has since amassed more than 6.5 million copies sold worldwide. Much like Atlas Shrugged, it reflects Rand’s belief that individualism is superior to collectivism. For this, the Prometheus Award-winner remains a divisive figure to this day.
Given the subject matter of The Fountainhead, it does make sense that Zack would choose to tackle this project, as Snyder may see similarities between himself and Howard Roark, an uncompromising artist. Regardless, he’s certainly picked an ambitious project to follow-up his DCEU departure with and we can’t wait to see it develop.
