Fahrenheit hits $100m
2004-07-26 07:32
Los Angeles - Michael Moore joined the $100m club as his political assault Fahrenheit 9/11 became the first documentary to top that mark at the US box office.
Moore's condemnation of President George W Bush's actions regarding the September 11 attacks had a weekend haul of $5m to lift its total to $103.35m since opening in late June.
"The American people have not been given the whole story about these last three years and they don't feel they've been given the truth from the White House," Moore said on Sunday.
"So they've gone to the movie theatres to look for the truth and to begin the important discussion and debate that needs to take place in this country."
The previous best domestic gross for a feature-length documentary was $21.6m for Moore's Academy Award-winning Bowling for Columbine. That film took nine months to hit that level, while Fahrenheit 9/11 did more business, $23.9m, in just its first weekend.
'Boosted the public's appetite'
The polarising effects of September 11 and its aftermath, with Americans bitterly divided over Bush's invasion of Iraq, have boosted the public's appetite for political documentaries such as Fahrenheit 9/11, Control Room and Outfoxed, Moore said.
"It's really cool now to talk about politics, and this is the first time I've seen this happen in decades, really," Moore said. "Being apathetic right now is very uncool."
Fahrenheit 9/11 won the top honour at the Cannes Film Festival in May, but the movie lost its original distributor when Disney refused to let subsidiary Miramax release it because of its political content.
Miramax bosses Harvey and Bob Weinstein bought back the film and arranged for independent distribution through Lions Gate Films and IFC Films.
Democrats have embraced Fahrenheit 9/11, though Moore said his main goal was to create good entertainment, not dabble in politics. Moore said he has not been contacted by the campaign of Democratic candidate John Kerry and that he did not make the movie to boost Democrats' prospects of winning the White House.
"I believe the film is going to bring hundreds of thousands of people to the polls who otherwise were not going to vote," Moore said. "I think it's going to have a tremendous impact in that way."
Moore said he had hoped to have Fahrenheit 9/11 out on DVD before the November election, but that the film could continue to play in theatres through year's end and into 2005.
- AP