Four hours is not what Ayn Rand had in mind when she worked with Sterling Silliphant, that's for sure. Maybe Ruddy's intent is to reproduce The Winds Of War on a no-fat diet, and call it potboiler qua postwar social document. Ruddy probably doesn't care. He gets a big producer fee upfront. Nor is this unusual.
Producers thrive by converting literature into expense accounts.
I wish Mr. Ruddy well. He deserves to get Atlas , if anyone does. But let's quit pretending that Galt's Gulch in Colorado makes a whit of sense today. I lived in Colorado. You can't sneeze there, without six Federal employees noting the time of day and wind direction.