Newsgroup: it.arti.cinema
Titolo: Incendiary 'Fahrenheit' Is No Box Office Bomb

Incendiary 'Fahrenheit' Is No Box Office Bomb
Documentary Sets Record With Opening
By Bridget Byrne Special to The Washington Post
Monday, June 28, 2004; Page C01 <
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp
dyn/articles/A10772-2004Jun27.html>
"Fahrenheit 9/11," director Michael Moore's scathing
attack on President Bush and the administration's
response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001,
was the hottest film in America over the weekend. If
early estimates are correct, the movie instantly became
the top-grossing documentary in the nation's history.
The film is believed to have earned $21.8 million on
its opening weekend, a record for a documentary. Even
more significantly, it managed to become the nation's
No. 1 movie attraction, despite playing on only 868
screens, about a third what a big blockbuster would
have.
"It became part of the national conversation this
weekend," Moore said during a morning conference call
yesterday.
"This is one of the events of the summer," said Paul
Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, an
independent company that tracks box office returns. He
said he was particularly impressed with the per-theater
average of $25,115: "I'm amazed at those numbers. That
type of per-theater average is usually reserved for a
blockbuster."
It was actually a tad lower than the $26,144 per screen
for Moore's previous documentary, "Bowling for
Columbine," but that film opened at just eight sites in
October 2002, and eventually reached only 248
locations, despite winning an Oscar. The anti-gun movie
has grossed $21.5 million -- a record for a documentary
but less than the haul for "Fahrenheit 9/11" from
Friday through yesterday.
"Fahrenheit's" opening was the highest ever for a movie
under 1,000 screens, and the third-highest screen
average of the year, behind only Mel Gibson's "The
Passion of the Christ" and the animated family film
"Shrek 2." In second place this past weekend was the
comedy "White Chicks," starring the Wayans brothers,
popular with urban audiences. The PG-13 Sony film
played at 2,726 theaters over the weekend, averaging
$7,190 per screen for a $19.6 million gross.
Initially, Hollywood analysts predicted only a modest
$10 million opening for the Moore film. The documentary
was dumped by Disney, its distributor, despite winning
the top award at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.
But as the pro and con buzz built, $15 million was the
sum bandied about. After the movie had sold-out
premieres at two theaters in Manhattan on Wednesday,
upward of $20 million was considered likely.
By Friday morning, many evening showings around the
country were already sold out. Checking his computer
that morning, Jeff Kaufman, vice president of Memphis-
based Malco Theatres, reported sellouts for both early
evening shows at the one of his local theaters, which
generally plays high-end commercial and art films, but
had sold only five advance tickets at a multiplex in
suburban Memphis. However, he said, "I don't think this
movie is going to play like a documentary. I think it's
going to play a little bit more broad-based. I think
the film has a tremendous amount of want-to-see. . . .
It's getting probably more publicity than any other
documentary in history, both paid and media."
By Friday evening, officials at Lions Gate Films
Releasing and IFC Entertainment -- which had
collaborated with producers Harvey and Bob Weinstein's
newly created Fellowship Adventure Group to get the
film distributed following Disney's bow-out -- knew the
record book was being rewritten.
By yesterday morning they were ecstatic.
Tom Ortenberg, president of Lions Gate, joined Moore on
the conference call. "The film played brilliantly this
weekend in the 'red states' and the 'blue states,' and
the big towns and the small towns," he said. "We played
in Peoria. We literally sold out Peoria, Illinois."
Surveys showed the audience was split evenly between
male and female, and was predominantly over 25. The
biggest demographic consisted of moviegoers aged 25 to
34. In exit polls conducted in about 15 cites, 91
percent of the audience rated the film "excellent," and
93 percent would "definitely recommend" it.
"It's mind-blowing how well this film has been
received," said Jonathan Sehring, president of IFC,
noting that exit polling for "Fahrenheit" was even
better than for the 2002 surprise hit "My Big Fat Greek
Wedding."
The exit polls did not survey political affiliation,
but Sehring said he knew of sellouts in Long Island's
Nassau County, "long considered a Republican
stronghold." He also reported that his 17-year-old son
(old enough to get in, given the R rating) witnessed a
standing ovation from the audience at a mall theater.
The film packed theaters in Washington, where most
evening shows were sold out. Bob Zich of the Avalon
Theatre said he wasn't sure of the politics of the
moviegoers but guessed that "most of them probably knew
about the notoriety of the film" and that they were
"probably mostly Democratic partisans."
Matt Cowal, marketing manager for Landmark Theatres in
Washington, said the movie is doing "phenomenally well"
at his chain's downtown and Bethesda complexes. Most
evening shows have been sold out and some audiences
have been cheering during the movie, he said.
The screenings yesterday afternoon at the Loews
Georgetown were sold out. Dozens of people milled about
on the front steps, waiting an hour or more for the
next available showing.
Jim Lenihan, 23, a recent Georgetown University
graduate, had switched to an evening screening because
the afternoon show he planned to see had sold out
before all his friends had bought tickets. "I think he
[Michael Moore] is very good at expressing his opinion
through facts," said the Detroit native, who said he
has seen every Moore movie since 1989's "Roger & Me."
"But sometimes he slants his information and he
misleads, which is the same accusation he makes against
Bush."
Anthony Branch, 29, a bartender, said the movie helped
him better understand "what's really going on. . . . I
feel he [Bush] just lied about everything."
Jim Welsh, 65, drove more than 120 miles from his home
in Salisbury, Md., to see the movie. The editor of a
film and literature magazine, Welsh said, "I'd like to
see for myself Mr. Moore's methods and message, unlike
those right-wing people who will trash it without
having a clue what it involves."
Kitty Dana, 48, said she cried through two-thirds of
it. "It was incredibly moving, not just satirical,"
said Dana, who works for the American Friends Service
Committee, an antiwar group.
"It says a little about American arrogance and power,"
said Chandra Pant, 51, of Delhi, India, who was
visiting the Danas.
Bush-Cheney campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel had no
comment on the box office numbers, but suggested that
those wanting another view visit 
www.GeorgeWBush.com
and see a compilation of clips titled "Kerry Coalition
of the Wild-Eyed." In general, the campaign has said it
did not want to take on Moore because it would lend him
credibility.
Moore made no apologies for his partisanship.
"Documentaries by their very nature are supposed to
have a point of view," he said during the conference
call. He calls his documentary "an op-ed piece -- it
presents my opinion based on fact." He said he believes
the movie is playing strongly in Middle America, and
that it has confounded theories that "it would only
speak to the choir."
"The documentary filmgoing audience is not that large.
. . . I would imagine tens of thousands of people came
this weekend who had never been to a documentary in a
movie theater in their lives," says Moore.
The distributors say they plan to add a couple of
hundred theaters this coming weekend, and additional
theaters the following weekend. By then the competition
will include one of the summer's anticipated
blockbusters, "Spider-Man 2."
"We look forward to joining with 'Spider-Man' to
bringing truth and justice all across America," Moore
said.
Staff writers Lila Arzua and Bob Thompson contributed
to this report.
(c) 2004 The Washington Post Company

 said.
Non vediamo l'ora di congiungerci con Spider Man per portare la verita' e
la giustizia ovunque in america, ha detto Moore.
:-))