Zack Snyder stapt na drie films binnen het DC-universum (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice en Justice League) af van superhelden om The Fountainhead van schrijfster Ayn Rand te verfilmen. Het boek legde de grondslag voor Rands stelling dat het individu belangrijker is dan de gemeenschap, iets dat nog sterker naar voor kwam in haar latere werk Atlas Shrugged.

Het verhaal gaat over de eigenzinnige architect Howard Roark die ondanks de twijfelachtige reacties van critici en collega’s zijn eigen visie nastreeft om uiteindelijk gevierd te worden als een genie. In een van de meest beruchte scènes uit het boek verkracht Roark het vrouwelijke hoofdpersonage.

The Fountainhead werd in 1949 al verfilmd met Gary Cooper en Patricia Neal en nu geeft Snyder er zijn voorkeur aan ten nadele van het oorlogsdrama The Last Photograph dat eigenlijk zijn volgende project moest worden. “Ik heb altijd al gevonden dat het boek een stelling is over het creatief proces,” zei Snyder, “en wat het betekent om iets te creëren.”

Het nieuws werd op Twitter met op zijn zachtst uitgedrukt gemengde gevoelens onthaald. Een greep uit de reacties:

Judging from my feed right now, Zack Snyder’s THE FOUNTAINHEAD is going to be the great unifying force that finally brings Film Twitter together in a single epic act of dragging.

And I. Am. Here for it.

— jof (@tweetbyjof) May 28, 2018

“Zack Snyder’s The Fountainhead” is something that would appear on a marquee as a split-second sight gag in The Simpsons. How is it real?

— Guy Lodge (@GuyLodge) May 29, 2018

https://twitter.com/jasondashbailey/status/1001206370086121472

…y'know, after learning zach snyder wants to direct the fountainhead, that man of steel scene where pa kent's all "no no don't save those people you're too exceptional" suddenly makes a lot more sense

— Leap Dave Willis! (@damnyouwillis) May 28, 2018

https://twitter.com/alissamarie/status/1001196451903324160

It’s obviously terrible that Zack Snyder is doing a film of THE FOUNTAINHEAD, but on the plus side it means that we’re a maximum of two years away from Paul Ryan being arrested for masturbating in a cinema auditorium.

— olilyttelton (@olilyttelton) May 29, 2018

https://twitter.com/jhoffman/status/1001213802745090048

It's nice when people you like make good films from material you admire, but the exact opposite is also oddly satisfying eg Zack Snyder's THE FOUNTAINHEAD.

— Jessica Kiang (@jessicakiang) May 29, 2018

Zack Snyder adapting The Fountainhead is like getting your taxes done at a swanky night club.

— Philly M. Nerd (@PhillyMovieNerd) May 28, 2018

you, not wrong: Zack Snyder's FOUNTAINHEAD is gonna suck

me, demonstrating that truth is more than mere fact: this is true, but it'll be really fucking funny

— Danny Bowes (@bybowes) May 28, 2018

Everyone’s pointing and laughing at Zack Snyder because he’s adapting The Fountainhead, when they really should be pointing and laughing at him because he’s still using Vero.

— Chris Hewitt (@ChrisHewitt) May 29, 2018

Can't wait to see all that slow-motion architecture in Zack Snyder's THE FOUNTAINHEAD

— Chris Evangelista (@cevangelista413) May 29, 2018

Please god let Zack Snyder have to bankroll THE FOUNTAINHEAD using a kickstarter campaign.

— Boner Vivant (@Doug_Tilley) May 28, 2018

The idea of Zack Snyder directing THE FOUNTAINHEAD is making me cackle. It’s going to be *so phallic and so bonkers*.

Like, I detest Rand’s writing. But marrying that turgid prose & philosophical horror with Snyder’s outrageous visual bombast sounds like a three-spliff delight.

— Abe Goldfarb (@AbeGoldfarb) May 29, 2018

Remember when Dirty Dancing warned us about guys who like Ayn Rand and The Fountainhead? pic.twitter.com/2EnyCxmMN8

— Courtney Enlow (@courtenlow) May 29, 2018

https://twitter.com/pixelatedboat/status/1001238076021067776

By far the best part of Zack Snyder doing a Fountainhead film is that we get to hear for the entire leadup to his film how bad Ayn Rand is from a bunch of people who have never read a word of her writing, and have no idea what her books are about.

It's gonna be a real treat.

— Colin Moriarty (@longislandviper) May 28, 2018

https://twitter.com/brockwilbur/status/1001469809157070848

In terms of wrong place/wrong time, a glossy FOUNTAINHEAD adaptation in 2018 ranks just below Eli Roth's DEATH WISH.

— Boner Vivant (@Doug_Tilley) May 28, 2018

Wait… an arrogant self-obsessed dudebro who failed his way into Hollywood fame is actually a huge fan of Ayn Rand and is making The Fountainhead?

Wow, I did not see that coming. pic.twitter.com/f1pn7Q19Ld

— Magdalen Rose (@theMagdalenRose) May 28, 2018

https://twitter.com/christianmccrea/status/1001244706624360449

https://twitter.com/EthanInTX/status/1001198804132130816

Zack Snyder confirms Fountainhead is his next project and the smearing has begun… pic.twitter.com/3ROD30BQK4

— Film Junkee (@DaveePena) May 29, 2018

pic.twitter.com/zCs6ebZy04

— 🌈🏳️‍⚧️👽 🇨🇱🌳 (@okelay) May 28, 2018

https://twitter.com/Snarkosa/status/1001225635392606208

https://twitter.com/psionicjake/status/1001457422488174593

pic.twitter.com/XO5bc96PDl

— 🤖 William🐬 (@TastefulNewts) May 29, 2018

pic.twitter.com/bys92WWxUM

— Merlin Monroe (@ScottHenze1) May 29, 2018

https://twitter.com/ThickLizzy/status/1001220762844520449

Bron: Dark Horizons