Zack Snyder Is Officially Adapting an 83-Year-Old Novel That's as Popular as 'Harry Potter'

Zack Snyder's latest film may not have wowed the critics at the Toronto International Film Festival, but the Man of Steel director is still dreaming of his next project. He's determined to fulfil a longtime dream of directing an adaptation of one of the most popular, and most controversial, novels of the 20th century.

Snyder's new film, The Last Photograph, debuted at TIFF on Sunday. It stars Stuart Martin, who previously starred in Snyder's science fiction duology Rebel Moon, as a former DEA agent who heads to South America in search of his niece and nephew following their parents' murders. Joining forces with a war photographer (Fra Fee, another Rebel Moon veteran), he voyages deep into the jungle in search of their killers, but he may not like what he finds. Critics who saw its TIFF premiere have excoriated it, resulting in a dismal 21% Rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes.

In a recent interview with Variety, Snyder re-iterated his longstanding desire to adapt Ayn Rand's 1930 novel The Fountainhead, which he's already written a script for. The novel, which centers around iconoclastic architect Howard Roark and his struggles against the forces of collectivism, has often been interpreted as a reflection of Rand's sharply libertarian views. However, Snyder does not believe it would be a right-wing movie: "What people don't realize is that The Fountainhead in the 1950s was like Harry Potter now in terms of popularity. It was off the charts. Even just the why of that is worth it. And The Fountainhead is an insane melodrama. That'll probably be my magnum opus. I'll probably die on that one." It won't be his next film, which will be a remake of Escape From New York, but Snyder still sees a future for the project.

Has 'The Fountainhead' Been Adapted For the Screen Before?

Back at the height of its popularity, legendary Hollywood director King Vidor (Duel in the Sun) tackled The Fountainhead, bringing it to the silver screen in 1949. Gary Cooper (High Noon) starred as Roark; the supporting cast included Patricia Neal (Hud) and Raymond Massey (Arsenic and Old Lace). The film was a disappointment with critics and at the box office; Rand, who penned the screenplay herself, later disowned it. Michael Cimino (The Deer Hunter) and Oliver Stone (Platoon) were both interested in remaking the film, but neither project materialized.