Fahrenheit 9/11

Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)

Timing: 2:3 (123 min)

7.091/10
1357

7.729/10
13279

7.5/10
135000

• In May 2004, Michael Moore made an official statement that Walt Disney Pictures (owner of distributor Miramax) was hindering Miramax's promotion of his latest documentary. In turn, Disney representatives responded that the decision had been made back in May 2003, and they had advised Miramax to abandon the distribution functions of the film at that time.
• Executive Director Michael Eisner sarcastically noted that Moore deliberately inflated a public scandal to attract the attention of film critics at the Cannes Film Festival. In turn, Moore stated that Eisner was simply a coward and feared increased taxes levied on Disneyland and the numerous hotels located in Florida. As is known, Florida Governor Jeb Bush – the younger brother of US President George Bush – harshly criticized in Michael Moore's film.
• Following its screening at the Cannes Film Festival, the film received perhaps the longest ovation in the entire history of the film forum. The exact time could not be established, but the media reported a figure of 15 to 25 minutes.
• Only the second documentary film has managed to win the main prize of the Cannes Festival – the Palme d'Or. The pioneer in this regard was the film by the famous traveler Jacques-Yves Cousteau, "Monde du silence, Le," in 1956.
• For the first time, a documentary film has topped the list of the weekend's highest-grossing films. Previously, no documentary film had even made it into the top five.
• During filming, Moore shot an interview with American contractor Nicholas Berg, who was subsequently kidnapped and killed by Iraqi terrorists, but decided not to include the conversation in the final version of the film. Michael stated that the interview would never be released to the public, as he decided to hand over all the original footage to Berg's relatives.
• Ray Bradbury, author of the science fiction work "Fahrenheit 451," expressed his indignation regarding the title of Moore's film. "He stole my idea," the distraught writer told the press.
• Documentary films have never been shown on such a large number of screens before. The first weekend (June 25-27) – 868 screens, the second weekend (July 2-5) – 1725 screens, the third weekend (July 9-11) – 2011(!) screens.
• For the first time, a film that was shown on the fewest screens compared to its competitors topped the box office.
• Until recently, the highest-grossing documentary film was considered to be Michael Moore's 'Bowling for Columbine.' In 2002, this film grossed $24 million. 'Fahrenheit 9/11' demonstrated that result already in its first weekend.
• In his official press release, Michael Moore stated: "My film is primarily aimed at the 50 percent of people who never vote. Have they become the elite in the meantime? Have they become richer? Are they well-educated? No! They are still poor. Who are these 50 percent? Primarily, it’s the working class, single mothers, uneducated youth, and the overwhelming majority of African Americans."
• Michael Moore didn't even try to fight the spread of pirated versions of the film on the internet, because the goal of the film is not to collect the maximum amount of money, but to educate every potential American voter on the eve of the 2004 presidential election.
• The film initially received an "R" rating. Michael Moore attempted to convince the MPPA association that the film should be seen by 15-year-old teenagers who, in a few years, might end up in military service in Iraq. He filed a protest, suggesting the commission soften the rating to "PG-13". However, the protest was rejected, and the film was released with an "R" rating due to "the presence of violent and disturbing scenes in the film, as well as an abundance of profanity".
• In May 2004, Michael Moore made an official statement that Walt Disney Pictures (owner of distributor Miramax) was hindering Miramax from promoting his latest documentary. Disney representatives, in turn, responded that the decision had been made back in May 2003, and they had advised Miramax to abandon the distribution of the film at that time.
• Executive Director Michael Eisner sarcastically noted that Moore had deliberately inflated a public scandal in order to attract the attention of film critics at the Cannes Film Festival. In turn, Moore stated that Eisner was simply a coward and afraid of increased taxes levied on Disneyland and the numerous hotels located in Florida. As is known, Florida Governor Jeb Bush – the younger brother of US President George W. Bush – severely criticized in Michael Moore’s film.
• Only the second documentary film managed to win the main prize of the Cannes Festival – the "Palme d'Or". The pioneer in this regard was the film by famous traveler Jacques-Yves Cousteau, “Monde du silence, Le” in 1956.
• For the first time, a documentary film topped the list of the weekend's highest-grossing films. Previously, no documentary film had even made it into the top five.
• During filming, Moore shot an interview with American contractor Nicholas Berg, who was subsequently kidnapped and killed by Iraqi terrorists, but decided not to include this conversation in the final version of the film. Michael stated that the interview would never be released to the public, as he decided to hand over all the original footage to Berg’s family.
• Ray Bradbury, author of the science fiction work “Fahrenheit 451,” expressed his indignation regarding the title of Moore’s film. “He stole my idea,” the distraught writer told the press.
• Documentary films have never before been shown on such a large number of screens. The first weekend (June 25-27) — 868 screens, the second weekend (July 2-5) — 1725 screens, the third weekend (July 9-11) — 2011(!) screens.
• For the first time, a film that was shown on the fewest screens compared to its competitors topped the box office.
• Until recently, the highest-grossing documentary film was considered to be Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine.” In 2002, this film grossed $24 million. “Fahrenheit 9/11” demonstrated this result already in its opening weekend.
• In his official press release, Michael Moore stated: "My film is primarily aimed at the 50 percent of people who never vote. Have they become the elite in that time? Have they become richer? Are they well-educated? No! They are still poor. Who are these 50 percent? They are, first and foremost, the working class, single mothers, uneducated youth, and the overwhelming majority of African Americans."
• Michael Moore didn't even try to fight the spread of pirated versions of the film online, because the goal of the film is not to collect as much money as possible, but to educate every potential American voter on the eve of the 2004 US presidential election.
• The film was initially given an 'R' rating. Michael Moore tried to convince the MPPA that the film should be seen by 15-year-old teenagers, who in a few years could very well end up in military service in Iraq. He filed a protest, suggesting that the commission soften the rating to 'PG-13'. However, the protest was rejected, and the film was released with an 'R' rating due to "the presence of violent and disturbing scenes in the film, as well as an abundance of profanity."