News: Batman v Superman Director and Producer Team Adapting "Fountainhead"

by Ken Miyamoto on March 18, 2016

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder is working on a film adaptation of Atlas Shrugged author Ayn Rand's other most famous work — The Fountainhead — with his producing partner and wife Deborah Snyder.

Zack commented on what they've been up to outside of the DC universe, "We have The Last Photograph that I've been working on for a long time. It's a small, sort of weird project about a war photographer in Afghanistan. I have been working on 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 Brothers owns [Ayn Rand's] script and I've just been working on that a little bit."

The 1943 novel has previously been adapted for film with Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal starring in the 1949 version. The story follows an iconoclastic architect who spends the tale striving to pursue his creative vision and overcome critics and colleagues who doubt him, eventually winning out and becoming recognized for his greatness. The story is also infamous for a scene in which Roark rapes the female lead.

The Snyders, who together run the six-employee Cruel & Unusual Films, are busy in the run-up to the March 25 release of Batman v. Superman, which Zack, 50, directed and Deb, 46, produced. They also have a Wonder Woman spinoff in production and start filming Justice League in April in London (Zack is directing the latter as well as the 2019 sequel). The couple also are producing an Aquaman spinoff and are executive producing Suicide Squad (out Aug. 8) as well as Flash, Green Lantern and Cyborg spinoffs. They first met when Deb hired Zack to direct a Reebok commercial for the 1996 Olympics. Together, they are raising eight children ages 3 to 22 — four from Zack's previous marriage and two from his previous relationship — as well as two labs that they bring on location.