Posted on 06/28/2004 10:06:02 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
LOS ANGELES, (AFP) - US filmmaker Michael Moore is claiming a major political coup against US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) as "Fahrenheit 9/11" scorched box office records and shook the US political scene.
The polemical film earned 23.9 million dollars at the box office in its North American debut, more than any other documentary in history, indicating it could yet influence voters ahead of November's election, some experts said.
The film that bashes Bush over the war in Iraq (news - web sites) and for an alleged erosion of US civil rights amid the war against terror, crushed its big-budget Hollywood competition and performed even better than initially estimated.
The movie that cost six million dollars to make and which just a month ago could not find a distributor after Walt Disney Corp refused to release it, is the first documentary ever to open in top spot at the US box office.
In just three days, "Fahrenheit" smashed the 21.6-million-dollar-record for ticket sales for a documentary set over a nine-month run by Moore's Oscar-winning "Bowling for Columbine."
"These are mind-blowing numbers," Moore said of his film that opened on 868 US and Canadian screens Friday after Miramax chiefs Harvey and Bob Weinstein bought the rights back from Disney.
"All the predictions were that the movie would only speak to the choir, that it would only be for those who don't like Bush. I don't think that turned out to be true," he told reporters.
"The right wing is a getting a Christmas card from me," he told the Los Angeles Times of the Palme D'Or-winning film's success, despite a call by conservative group Move America Forward for Bush supporters and cinemas to boycott it.
"Fahrenheit" far outpaced two new Hollywood releases -- the comedy "White Chicks", which opened on more than 2,000 screens but took second place with 19.6 million dollars and "The Notebook," which was fourth with 13.4 million.
The movie's success could see it expanded onto as many as 2,000 screens by July 9, reports said.
Moore has made no secret of his hopes that his movie's tough images and liberal rhetoric will help influence voters into defeating the Republican Bush in the November 2 presidential election.
But experts had warned that the documentary, which includes allegations of links between the Bush family and that of al-Qaeda terror network leader Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), would not change voters' minds but simply reinforce existing beliefs.
The staggering box office returns suggest that the film might influence voters.
"The movie is doing as well in red (Republican-dominated) states as in blue (Democratic) states shows that there is a demand for change in policy that the opinion polls are not revealing," said University of Southern California communications professor Martin (news - web sites) Kaplan.
"If I were Bush, I would be more worried after this weekend than before it. It is hard to see the movie and not leave it feeling the country needs a change," he told AFP.
Surveys show that up to 21 percent of voters have not yet made up their minds between Bush and Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry (news - web sites), who are locked in a neck-and-neck race as the war in Iraq continues to spiral further into violence and chaos.
The film's producers, the Weinstein brothers, hailed its success after their politically-charged gamble paid off.
"The movie has transcended its genre," Harvey Weinstein told the Los Angeles Times. "It's playing like a 'movie', not a 'documentary,'" he said.
University of California, Berkeley politics professor Bruce Caine said the emotive documentary would influence the polls, at least by rousing Democratic voters in an often apathetic electorate.
"It will have an effect for sure," he told AFP. "It is going to energise the Democratic base, which is really important as in this election, the question is who will be able turn out their party base."
The extraordinary media hype surrounding the film could also reach the minority of voters who have not yet made up their minds about which they intend to vote.
"If these uncommitted people go the movie because of the buzz, it may influence them," Caine said, adding however that while the movie brought home the horror of the war in Iraq, many viewers may not be convinced by its strident political tenor.
But Carroll Doherty, of the Pew Research Center, doubted the film's stellar success could shift voter opinions away from Bush.
"I don't expect a big impact on the election for a couple of reasons. First, the timing: the movie is out four months before the election. And because America is very polarised."
Let's see if fat boy claims victory on the night of Nov. 2.
It's more like a Mockumentary,, a Smellodrama
Every Democrat in America will visit this movie. So? (yawn)
Documentary: A film whose producers research and present historical or current events in an unbiased manner that allows viewers to draw their own conclusions with the confidence that they have been presented with all known facts and views.
Source: CBS
Note to Michael Moore: Karma beats Dogma everytime. Too bad you bet on the latter.
I am betting several million of this is hype.
Yes. And billions of flies cluster on cow pies each day.
On a personal note, I have a friend happened to mention today how much she loves Michael Moore. I could not believe she could be so stupid. I knew she was a Democrat, and I'm sorry to say it, but my opinion of her has definitely lowered.
Once again, AFP just goes ahead and prints the press release. Easier that way.
212 Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde MGM $22,220,670 24.6% 3,350 $6,633 $90,186,328 7/02/03
213 Freaky Friday BV $22,203,007 20.1% 2,954 $7,516 $110,230,332 8/06/03
214 Die Hard: With A Vengeance Fox $22,162,245 22.2% 2,525 $8,777 $100,012,499 5/19/95
215 Kill Bill Vol. 1 Mira. $22,089,322 31.5% 3,102 $7,120 $70,099,045 10/10/03
216 Road to Perdition DW $22,079,481 21.1% 1,797 $12,286 $104,454,762 7/12/02
217 Starship Troopers Sony $22,058,773 40.2% 2,971 $7,424 $54,814,377 11/07/97
218 Star Trek: Insurrection Par. $22,052,836 31.4% 2,620 $8,417 $70,187,658 12/11/98
219 The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition) Fox $21,975,993 32.5% 2,111 $10,410 $67,597,694 2/21/97
220 Inspector Gadget BV $21,889,138 22.5% 2,814 $7,778 $97,403,112 7/23/99
221 Notting Hill Uni. $21,811,180 18.8% 2,747 $7,940 $116,089,678 5/28/99
222 Fahrenheit 9/11 FAG $21,800,000 99.3% 868 $25,115 $21,958,000 6/25/04
223 Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life Par. $21,783,641 33.2% 3,222 $6,760 $65,660,196 7/25/03
Oh for Pete's sake. One episode of the Tonight Show is seen by more people than this POS cartoon will see in 5 years. Do the math Mike your little flick has been seen by, at most, 3 million. 95% are those that will never vote for a republican and of the other 5% ,3% will not vote at all so your entire net gain in votes is about 100K concentrated in California and New York. WOW!
The real test will be how it does in the following weeks. I may eat my words, but I think we'll see a small turnout from here on out. They got their opening weekend publicity, which will drive a few curious folks to the theaters for this coming weekend. Unless he pulls some other stunt to get negative media attention (and free advertising as a result) I'd be surprised if this poor excuse for a "documentary" does any more really significant numbers at the box office.
As Rush Limbaugh pointed out today, 21.6 million dollars translates to about 2.5 million viewers. Rush has 2.5 million listeners in any given 15 minute period and has maintained that number every day for 15 years. Anyone care to wager how many people will be buying tickets to FU911 in 15 years?
Okay, how about 15 days?
its dead after spiderman 2 comes out on wednesdsay
Heck, I think even Gigly (Jeely) did better!
I think it was up against some movie called "White Chicks", and some other no-name movie I cannot recall.
This movie is going to flop as much as Kerry flips.
does the math add up? I don't normally follow show-biz so wouldn't know how they come to these figures, but it strikes me that the theatres where the flick DID open, at $10 a ticket, would have each (on average) had to have had 2752 paying viewers over the weekend?
OR is this something that will be corrected on Page D-34 of the newspapers in a few months, say, late November?
The Left have their documentary but we have ours, it was called "The Passion of Christ", anyone see it yet?
I don't think theirs will beat ours.
A Hungry Michael Moore Eats Himself, Achieves Infinite Density
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