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"Fahrenheit 9/11" sets documentary record
 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
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 US 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 US
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."
"Fahrenheit 9/11" opened in 868 theaters, a wide release for a
documentary but narrow compared to big Hollywood flicks.
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.
(China Daily/Agencies) | 
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