A first trailer and poster for the Ayn Rand adaptation Atlas Shrugged: Part II have landed online to prove that the sequel actually did get made.  Part I was a box office flop when it hit theaters and netted overwhelmingly negative reviews, but the producers were determined to carry on with their plans to complete the trilogy.  Few of the first film’s actors have returned for this follow-up, and the trailer doesn’t exactly signal that we'll see an increase in quality.  The visual effects are Terra Nova-bad and the dialogue is cringeworthy, with such thought-provoking lines as “I’ve only got one thing worth fighting for *points to brain* this.”

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster.  Directed by John Putch, the film stars Samantha Mathis, Ray Wise, Jason Beghe, Esai Morales, D.B. Sweeney, and Paul McCrane.  Atlas Shrugged: Part II opens on October 12th.

Via The Film Stage.

Here’s the synopsis:

The global economy is on the brink of collapse. Unemployment has risen to 24%. Gas is now $42 per gallon. Brilliant creators, from artists to industrialists, continue to mysteriously disappear at the hands of the unknown.

Dagny Taggart, Vice President in Charge of Operations for Taggart Transcontinental, has discovered what may very well be the answer to a mounting energy crisis – found abandoned amongst the ruins of a once productive factory, a revolutionary motor that could seemingly power the World.

But, the motor is dead… there is no one left to decipher its secret… and, someone is watching.

It’s a race against the clock to find the inventor before the motor of the World is stopped for good.

Who is John Galt?