Credit: AP

 

 

 

'Fahrenheit 9/11' Sets Documentary Record

 

By DAVID GERMAIN

AP Movie Writer

 

 

LOS ANGELES - Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" took in a whopping $21.8 million in its first three days, becoming the first documentary ever to debut as Hollywood's top weekend film.

 

If Sunday's estimates hold when final numbers are released Monday, "Fahrenheit 9/11" would set a record in a single weekend as the top-grossing documentary ever outside of concert films and movies made for huge-screen IMAX theaters.

 

Adding the film's haul at two New York City theaters where it opened Wednesday, two days earlier than the rest of the country, boosted "Fahrenheit 9/11" to $21.96 million.

 

"Bowling for Columbine," Moore's 2002 Academy Award-winning documentary, previously held the documentary record with $21.6 million.

 

"Fahrenheit 9/11," Moore's assault on President Bush's actions after the 2001 terrorist attacks, won the top honor at last month's Cannes Film Festival and has attracted attention from both sides in the presidential campaign.

 

The movie has been embraced by left-wing groups, which mobilized members to see it during the opening weekend. Conservative groups sought to discourage theaters from showing it and asked the Federal Election Commission to examine its ads for potential violations of campaign-finance law regulating when commercials may feature a presidential candidate.

 

"I want to thank all the right-wing organizations out there who tried to stop the film, either from their harassment campaign that didn't work on the theater owners, or going to the FEC to get our ads removed from television, to all the things that have been said on television," Moore said. "It's only encouraged more people to go and see it."

 

The Wayans brothers' comedy "White Chicks," about two black FBI agents who go undercover as white debutantes, opened in second place with $19.6 million for the weekend. That pushed the total for "White Chicks" to $27.1 million since opening Wednesday.

 

The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," slipped to third place, taking in $18.5 million and pushing its 10-day total to $67.2 million. Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' "The Terminal" fell from second to fourth place with $13.9 million, raising its 10-day gross to $41.8 million.

 

Premiering in fifth place with $13 million was the tearjerker romance "The Notebook," featuring Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner and Gena Rowlands.

 

Despite good reviews, the family film "Two Brothers," about tiger siblings separated in youth and reunited as opponents in the ring as grown cats, opened weakly at No. 9 with $6.2 million.

 

"Fahrenheit 9/11" opened in 868 theaters, a wide release for a documentary but narrow compared to big Hollywood flicks. The film averaged $25,115 a theater, compared to $7,190 in 2,726 cinemas for "White Chicks."

 

Distributors Lions Gate and IFC Films plan to put "Fahrenheit 9/11" into a couple of hundred more theaters this Wednesday, when competition heats up with the release of "Spider-Man 2," summer's most-anticipated movie.

 

Lions Gate and IFC came on board after Disney refused to let subsidiary Miramax release "Fahrenheit 9/11" because of its political content. Miramax bosses Harvey and Bob Weinstein bought back the film and went looking for independent distributors.

 

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

 

1. "Fahrenheit 9/11," $21.8 million.

 

2. "White Chicks," $19.6 million.

 

3. "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," $18.5 million.

 

4. "The Terminal," $13.9 million.

 

5. "The Notebook," $13 million.

 

6. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," $11.4 million.

 

7. "Shrek 2," $10.5 million.

 

8. "Garfield: The Movie," $7 million.

 

9. "Two Brothers," $6.2 million.

 

10. "The Stepford Wives," $5.2 million.

 

 

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Yeah, it was going against some big money ballas.

 

Call me when it goes up against Spiderman

Yeah, it just barely beat White Chicks..... :lol

well I'm glad it's a box office hit..I mean, Moore (the man of the people ) is all about the money anyway.

Yeah, it just barely beat White Chicks..... :lol

It also had a two thirds less theatres than White Chicks. 25,000 which it averaged per theatre is monster, and I mean monster. If it had 2000 theatres like most wide releases it could have had 50million.

 

It hurts me to say this this but that is a huge weekend all factors included.

like I said...

 

Michael Moore is a paradox. A millionaire who boasts of wealth as proving his value -- "I'm a millionaire, I'm a multi-millionaire. I'm filthy rich. You know why I'm a multi-millionaire? 'Cause multi-millions like what I do. That's pretty good, isn't it?"

 

He lives in a million-dollar apartment, and boasts of that as well. "I walk among them. I live on the island of Manhattan, a three-mile-wide strip of land that is luxury home and corporate suite to America's elite..... Those who run your life live in my neighborhood. I walk in the streets with them each day" (Michael Moore, Stupid White Men, p. 51).

 

He sends his child to a private school -- no sense associating with the working class -- and has some trouble associating with them himself. The New York Post reported on a tantrum he threw in London: "Then, on his second-to-last night, [Michael Moore] raged against everyone connected with the Roundhouse and complained that he was being paid a measly $750 a night. 'He completely lost the plot,' a member of the stage crew told the London Evening Standard. 'He stormed around all day screaming at everyone, even the 5 pound-an-hour bar staff, telling them how we were all con men and useless. Then he went on stage and did it in public.' At his last appearance, staffers refused to work or even open the theater's doors." NY Post, Jan. 8, 2003.

 

He supplements his meager income with speaking tours (No more $750 gigs; he charged Cornell students $10,000, , Univ. of Texas ones $25,000, told the Penn State ones he could be had for a modest $15-20,000 a night, and most recently, when Kansas University students asked for him, "Moore -- a noted political activist and Academy Award-winning filmmaker -- had raised eyebrows by asking for more than $30,000 to speak at KU." Ah, the joys of capitalism....) No wonder one former associate of his rated him as " You would think that he's the ultimate common man. But he's money-obsessed."

 

And ....

 

His major themes are his status as the spokesman of the working class, the vices and corruptions of the money-obsessed, and the evils of the United States.

 

It would be easy to denounce Moore as a hypocrite. Many conservatives denounce him as a leftist, when in fact the serious left, the thinking left, generally finds him appalling. He is, in short, the latest in the modern breed of Limosine Leftists -- individuals who, while personally they share the values of 19th century robber barons, find it flattering to adopt a thin (and personally meaningless) veneer of leftism as a pose, in the same manner they pick a flattering hair style or gown. (A left-leaning critic of Moore summed up the situation very nicely: Moore's appeal lies in his giving wealthy, over-educated, whites an opportunity to laugh at working-class whites.)

 

 

 

I'm glad he get's to add more money to his account....don't help that drug-dealing family of the 6 year old who shot the girl....spend it on buying another million-dollar home.

Let's see what happens next weekend. Reports show that theaters sold out in such conservative enclaves as Nassau and Orange Counties. So two theories can be gleaned A) Moore's excellent filmmaking technique is swaying even the most conservative, paving the way for an 80% Kerry victory in the fall or B) It's da hype.

Yeah, it just barely beat White Chicks..... :lol

It also had a two thirds less theatres than White Chicks. 25,000 which it averaged per theatre is monster, and I mean monster. If it had 2000 theatres like most wide releases it could have had 50million.

 

It hurts me to say this this but that is a huge weekend all factors included.thats such a flawed extrapolation.

 

the number of people who wish to see any given film on opening weekend is constant. random walkup sales--while nice--are a minimal factor in a movie's opening sales.

 

if you wanted to see the movie the day it comes out, you'd just go and see it at whichever local theater plays it. it's not like 2/3 of the people who want to see it can't. this wasnt a geographically-limited release.

 

the number of showtimes for a film is based on availability of film and demand (e.g. ticket sales), so its not like every theater that showed it was completely sold out... you dont have to camp in lines outside the theater to buy tickets.

 

ultimately, the majority of people who wanted to see the film on opening weekend got tickets to see it, despite having fewer theaters to select from. it makes no sense at all to extrapolate the box office gross for a full release by just using that $25,000 per theater number.... thats retarded. i'm surprised the idiot writer even bothered to point that figure out.

 

 

It hurts me to say this this but

lol

I saw The Day After Tommorow This Weekend...that movie was really awesome liberal crap...but still entertaining. can moore beat it?

well, i saw it at the universal city walk regal theatre, it wasnt playing at the one in winter park, which is closer to my house....

 

 

anyway, overall i enjoyed the documentary....its a must see for for everyone...

 

if u didnt like bush, ull like him even less when u see it. if u do like him, you'll go away thinking the "documentary" wasnt one, and say its crap.

 

the end.

I saw it ... I laughed ... I had a good time

 

 

I dont care what he does with his money, at least he makes some stupid people open their eyes ... even if they are all lies, at least they are loosely real and sometimes thats all people wanna see/hear ... he aint no mother Teresa c'mon now ... geez

 

MICHAEL MOORE ROCKS YOUR SOCKS OFF

I have yet to see it but hopefully will do so soon! For all who enjoyed the film rent Bowling for Columbine which was great also!

whats the point with some of you guys? You wouldnt agree with anything Moore says even if he did have solid evidence behind it. You guys have been spewing venom at Moore the moment he said he would be making a film. Its clear he is enough of a threat that it bothers conservatives, so much so that there is an active campaign both legally and grass roots against it. The rest of us agree with Moore on the end point..Bush sucks..so Ill just watch the movie for what it is. Dpnt give me the self righteous "truth in media" crap too. If it fits your purpose, youll fight behind it. I dont see any articles about the crap Ann Coulter writes.

rather than articles, I should have said posts.

 

It just amazes me how much people seem to have made the "false claims" of Moore their new cause, but dont seem to be jumping up the other side. Clearly the partisanship shining through.

Unlike Michael Moore I haven't seen anyone post a thread about Coulter and how she has a book coming out or she is making an appearance on TV or the like.

 

There have been a multitude of threads posted about Moore by people who like him and agree with him(LCyberlina).

And Im sure youd be all over Coulter's falsehoods if she did write a book right?

 

 

From what I can tell, their are numerous threads started with the topic being anti Micheal Moore.

white chicks was funny as hell, i don't care what anyone says

 

just my 2 cents

 

I would like to watch Fahrenheit 9/11 but the closes movie theatre playing it is in a not so good part of town.

 

So whoever said they might put it in select theatres this could be true.

 

I mean the theatre its in is near a black neighborhood and most black people dont like Bush from what I've heard so their could be a connection.

 

Either way Spider-Man 2 will topple this movie.

You want it? Here it is: Coulter is Looney Tunes. Hannity and Savage are idiots.

 

Doesn't take away from Moore's massive suckitude.

I mean the theatre its in is near a black neighborhood and most black people dont like Bush from what I've heard

:lol :lol :lol :lol

I mean the theatre its in is near a black neighborhood and most black people dont like Bush from what I've heard

:lol :lol :lol :lol well most black people are democrats....

whats the point with some of you guys? You wouldnt agree with anything Moore says even if he did have solid evidence behind it. You guys have been spewing venom at Moore the moment he said he would be making a film. Its clear he is enough of a threat that it bothers conservatives, so much so that there is an active campaign both legally and grass roots against it. The rest of us agree with Moore on the end point..Bush sucks..so Ill just watch the movie for what it is. Dpnt give me the self righteous "truth in media" crap too. If it fits your purpose, youll fight behind it. I dont see any articles about the crap Ann Coulter writes.

:thumbup ... so right it hurts

You want it? Here it is: Coulter is Looney Tunes. Hannity and Savage are idiots.

 

Doesn't take away from Moore's massive suckitude.

don't forget Limbaugh and O'Reilly

The thing is with Michael Moore, he's right about most things, but it's the way he tries to get his point across sometimes that's out of line

Saw the movie on Friday. Nothing in the movie was a lie. All was based in facts, interviews and several documents from the administration. Feel free to jump with your own biases and try to take a shot at the movie's veracity. I'll be more than happy to d-bunk all your conservative brain washed assertions.

 

:thumbup Michael Moore Rocks!