"Fahrenheit 9/11" Hits $$100 million$$
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| Mon, 07-26-2004 - 9:38am |
"Fahrenheit" Hits 100 (Million)+
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,14582,00.html?tnews
Sometimes, when the fahrenheit hits 100 in the middle of summer, it's a good thing.
Just ask Michael Moore.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker's latest fireball of a documentary, the President Bush-bashing Fahrenheit 9/11, cooked up another $5 million in ticket sales this weekend, ranking in seventh place on the weekly box-office rundown.
But more importantly, the film, already the highest grossing documentary since its first weekend in theaters, hit the $100 million mark on Saturday, becoming the first doc in history to reach that milestone. Its total haul stands at $103.3 million in five weeks of release. Not too shabby for a film that cost just $6 million to make.
In a conference call Sunday, Moore credited the success to the public's desire to "look for the truth and begin the important discussion and debate that needs to take place in this county." Besides, he said,"right now it's really cool to talk about politics."
Moore also said that judging by his mail and snooping around cineplexes, Fahrenheit 9/11's record box office shows that people "want to go to a good movie. I don't think they are saying, 'Let's go see a documentary tonight.' I think they are saying that they've heard that this movie is funny, they've heard that this movie is sad, they've heard that this movie will show them things that they have never seen before, and I think that's why we all like to go to the movies."
Lions Gate, which, along with IFC Films, agreed to distribute the documentary after it was dissed by Disney, reports Fahrenheit 9/11 has performed best on the coasts, but is peforming strongly throughout the entire country. Although its audience is chiefly Democratic, the film is reportedly also scoring very well with independents. Perhaps most surprisingly, the studio says surveys suggest that more than 40 percent of the Republicans who have seen the movie would recommend it to others.
"I believe this movie is going to bring hundreds of thousands of people to the polls who otherwise were not going to vote," said Moore, who describes audiences as being very moved by the plight of the soldiers and their families. (Sony is planning on releasing a DVD version of the film by September.)
Moore also says that the film has benefited from free publicity, mostly courtesy of conservative types who continue to complain about the film, try to ban it from theaters, encourage illegal downloading of the film or evict Linda Ronstadt from Vegas casinos when she praised the film.
"A month ago it was all about, 'This movie is just going to preach to the converted.' Well the converted came the first weekend...and as each weekend goes by it's not the hardcore political people--they did not wait--the people going now are the people that live in that great gray middle of America, people who don't necessarily consider themselves political people, but who are interested in the movie now because they turn on the TV and it's Linda Ronstadt one day, it's people on Fox going nuts, going absolutely nuts...and they go, 'Maybe I should go check this movie out.'"
Finally, Moore couldn't resist on zinger at Mickey's expense. "If you had told me when we were going through all our pre-distribution problems with Disney that this film would gross more than any other Disney film this year...I don't even know to respond to that," he said.
For his part Mouse House big cheese Michael Eisner has been gracious--perhaps because, as part of his deal with the film's producers, Disney gets to pick charities that will receive the bulk of Fahrenheit 9/11's profits. Eisner has also admitted to seeing the doc he dumped, telling the Associated Press, "The reason it is a hit is it's entertaining. I thought it was like going to a rock concert. I loved it, but not in a political ."
The White House continues to try to ignore the movie. But Moore is trying to change that. He says that he plans to make an announcement this week during the Democratic National Convention about "my attempts to get to see the movie and an offer that I plan to make to him so that he has a chance to see the movie."
Other threads on the board about Fahrenheit 9/11.........
Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11' Wins at Cannes.
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-elinthenews/?msg=6602.1
Hollywood abuzz about 'Fahrenheit 9/11'.
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/iv-elinthenews/?msg=6725.1
violation of freedom of expression
http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-elinthenews&msg=6483.1


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Of course not...
"And it may not be in this thread specifically, but who said it was in this thread?"
*I* asked where in this thread, since this thread is the currently active one. Otherwise, the principle would be that nobody is allowed to make an error and learn from that error. In this case, in an earlier thread I did make statements critical of F-9/11 which I later found were based on incomplete information passed on to me, and I apologized for that mistake on my part.
But that's in the past. In this thread, I have made no comments specifically critical of F-9/11. Critical of Moore, yes. Critical of his previous works, yes. But not really of F-9/11 in particular.
~mark~
"I've always liked Moore's style for making movies, he's very annoying but always remains polite."
Really? And was it this politeness on display during his "interview" with Charlton Heston in BfC? If so, I'd have to venture that you have a strange conception of "polite".
~mark~
Edited 7/28/2004 4:25 pm ET ET by nicecanadianlady
And while no, asking tough questions isn't impolite, asking misleading ones and taking advantage of the interviewee's lack of information on hand about specific events is.
~mark~
I agree that Moore was very over the top there...I had watched the movie with a large amount of wryness before that point, but then just turned it off after watching that.
"And while no, asking tough questions isn't impolite, asking misleading ones and taking advantage of the interviewee's lack of information on hand about specific events is."
Not to mention that when he arrived, he (Moore) identified himself as a member of the NRA (he showed his card at that time) and said he wanted to talk about gun control then proceeded to take advantage of his being there, and personally attacked Heston's character. I think it was rude, and it was wrong.
Of course they are, but one has to see the film in order to put the past actions into context and make comparisons.
>>>is it safe to say that we should also not base a vote for political office based on someone's past political record?<<,
ah but one has to see if it is consistent with what they are currently doing, saying and proposing, don't they?
stooping to personal insults? We have talked enough on these message boards to know that your remark is uncalled for.
I said you are not able to determine that people who choose to go to see Fahrenheit 9/11 can't think for themselves.
>>What I said was that I would hope if they do see it that they employ a little independent thinking instead of accepting it blindly, a principle I've already noted as being applicable to far more than seeing this or any other movie.<<
why would you hope that unless you assume they won't?
>>>I'm criticizing the maker of the film, not the film itself<<
I know in this thread, but you have also decided that you don't want to see his current film because it is probably consistent with his previous works and not worth seeing, right? fine but since you haven't seen his current movie, you don't really know if it is consistent with his other ones. Why worry and hope that people would allow moore to do their thinking for them simply by virtue of the fact they want to see the movie? This movie is quite different mirage from columbine, he is not center stage nor does he speak as much, it is a military mum and footage that takes center stage. How viewers interpret that is up to them.
alfie
"why would you hope that unless you assume they won't?"
Some won't, that's the nature of Sheeple.
"I know in this thread, but you have also decided that you don't want to see his current film because it is probably consistent with his previous works and not worth seeing, right?"
Not a question of not worth seeing. It's a question of Moore establishing himself as someone with no respect for the factual representation of events and issues, and I have no desire to reward an individual like that by padding his pockets.
"fine but since you haven't seen his current movie, you don't really know if it is consistent with his other ones."
I really don't care if it is or isn't. This isn't about F-9/11, it's about it's creator, Michael Moore, and his historical problems where the factual presentation of events and issues is concerned. He's made his rep so far as I and many others are concerned, and it's nothing to be proud of.
~mark~
Wrong. There is no requirement to see the current film to judge previous films. Those previous works stand or fall on their own merits, regardless of his most recent work..
"ah but one has to see if it is consistent with what they are currently doing, saying and proposing, don't they?"
Wrong again. Past actions are quite sufficient to judge whether or not a person is worthy of ones vote.
~mark~
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