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. 94 Fahrenheit 9/11The film highlights President George W.Bush s conduct before and after theevents of September 11.Moore is particularly harsh toward President Bush s pas-sivity and apparent lack of action against the threat of terrorism before September11.In his documentary, Moore reported that Bush spent 42 percent of his timeon vacation in the period leading up to September 11.Moore also spotlighted theclose personal and business relationship between President Bush (and his family)and the Saudi regime.This relationship led to the evacuation of the bin Ladenfamily from the United States just after September 11 in such haste there was notime for debriefing by law enforcement and intelligence officials.Moore was alsohighly critical of the rationale for the invasion of Iraq.Finally, Moore criticized thenational media for cheering on the Bush administration s war against terror andthe invasion of Iraq.Even before its appearance in movie theaters, the documentary was so contro-versial that it had trouble finding a distributor.Harvey Weinstein, the CEO ofMiramax Films, had provided most of the $6 million financial support for the doc-umentary.Miramax is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Company, and Michael Eisner,then the CEO of Walt Disney Company, refused to allow Miramax to distributethe film.This decision was made by Eisner despite the fact that he had not yet seenthe documentary.Moore claimed that Eisner had been concerned about retaliationfrom Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the brother of George W.Bush, concerningDisney s real estate holdings and other interests in Florida.In the trade journals itwas already common knowledge that Fahrenheit 9/11 was going to be a hot prop-erty and that it would draw interest from a number of distributors.Weinstein dis-cussed the issue with Eisner, but he lost the argument and the documentary wasultimately not distributed by Miramax.Moore then turned to a second distribu-tor, Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, which was a Canadian distributorbased in Vancouver, British Columbia.To handle such a large booking Lions Gatehad to conclude a secondary partnership with IFC Films and Fellowship Adven-ture Group.The documentary has been fabulously successful financially.During its openingweekend (July 25 27, 2004), it generated box office revenues of $23.9 million inthe United States and Canada despite opening in only about 40 percent of the the-aters normally available for top-flight movies.In less than a year the documentaryhad grossed over $120 million in the United States and over $220 million world-wide.Because of its anti-Bush theme and opposition to the Iraq War, the docu-mentary was an international bestseller.Moore decided to release thedocumentary in a DVD format, which was made available in stores on October 5,2004.Around 2 million copies of the DVD were sold on the first day.Besides producing controversy, the documentary has also received some criticalacclaim.In April 2004 the documentary was entered to compete for the presti-gious Palme d Or (Golden Palm) Award at the 57th Cannes Film Festival.It wasreceived with great fanfare at its first showing.The nine-person panel for the awardhad four Americans and only one Frenchman on it.They voted for Fahrenheit9/11 as the winner of the 2004 Palme d Or award.Supporters of President Bush and the conservative movement tried in variousways to block the release of the documentary.They were worried that the doc-umentary might have a negative effect on the 2004 reelection campaign of Pres- Families of Victims of September 11 95ident Bush.Organizations such as Patriotic Americans Boycotting Anti-AmericanHollywood (PABAAH) launched an anti-Moore campaign.Subsequently, someBush supporters held an anti-Moore film festival, called theMichael Moore s Reaction to the Decision by DisneyAmerican Film Renaissance, inTexas, showing films thatDisney joining forces with the right-wing kooks who haveattacked Moore and his views come together to attempt to censor Fahrenheit 9/11 mustmean that Dumbo is now in charge of the company sregarding the Bush administra-strategic decisions.First, Disney tried to stop the movietion.The key feature wasfrom being released, and now it is aligning itself with theMichael Wilson s film Michaelvery people who are trying to intimidate the movie the-Moore Hates America.Toaters from showing the movie.Even Daffy Duck wouldcounter the charges from con-tell you this makes no sense.This latest development onlyservatives that he distorted factsfurther disproves what Michael Eisner had claimed aboutin his documentary, Moore politics not being behind Disney s decision not to dis-hired a staff of researchers andtribute Fahrenheit 9/11.two lawyers to check the factsand claims in Fahrenheit 9/11.Quoted in Gabriel Snyder, Fahrenheit Foes Put Heart intoDisney Doc, Daily Variety (June 29, 2004), p.1.There appeared to have been abacklash against this anti-Moorecampaign and the documentary continued to be shown in theaters, attractingmore viewers and making money.See AlsoBush, George W.; Bush AdministrationSuggested ReadingWilliam Booth, Fahrenheit 9/11 Too Hot for Disney? Washington Post (May 6, 2004),p.C1; David Denby, Michael Moore s Viciously Funny Attack on the Bush Administra-tion, New Yorker (June 28, 2004), p.108; Lawrence Donegan, and Paul Harris, Ameri-can Right Vows to Settle Score as Bush s Nemesis Turns Up the Heat, Observer [London](June 27, 2004), p.18; Patrick Goldstein, Eisner Fumbles PR Stunt and Show Biz Poli-tics, Gazette [Montreal] (May 14, 2004), p.D1; Gavin Smith, Michael Moore GivesMuch More, New Statesman (July 19, 2004), p.1; A.O.Scott, Moore s Fahrenheit9/11 Wins Top Honors at Cannes, New York Times (May 23, 2004), p.6; Wendy Stueck, Lions Gate hits Jackpot with Fahrenheit 9/11 Distribution, Globe and Mail [Canada](June 29, 2004), p.B1
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