Fahrenheit 9/11 is an award-winning and controversial 2004 documentary film by American filmmaker Michael Moore. The film takes a critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush, the War on Terrorism, and its coverage in the American news media. The film holds the record for highest box office receipts by a general release political film.
In the film, Moore contends that American corporate media were “cheerleaders” for the 2003 invasion of Iraq and did not provide an accurate and objective analysis of the rationale for the war or the resulting casualties there. The film’s attack on the Bush administration generated much controversy around the time of the film’s release, including disputes over its accuracy. Moore has attempted to respond by documenting his sources.
The film debuted at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival in the documentary film category and received a 20 minute standing ovation (the longest standing ovation in the festival’s history). The film was also awarded the Palme d’Or (Golden Palm), the festival’s highest award.
The film had a general release in the United States and Canada on June 23, 2004. It has since been released in 42 more countries. As of January 2005, the film had grossed nearly $120 million in U.S. box office and over $220 million worldwide, an unprecedented amount for a political film. Sony reported first-day DVD sales of two million copies, again a new record for the genre.
The title of the film alludes to Ray Bradbury’s 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451, a dystopian view of the future United States, conflating the supposed autoignition temperature of paper with the date of the September 11 attacks.
Financing, pre-release and distribution
Originally planned to be financed by Mel Gibson’s Icon Productions (which planned to give Michael Moore eight figures in upfront cash and potential backend), Fahrenheit 9/11 was later picked up by Miramax Films and Wild Bunch in May 2003 after Icon Productions had abruptly dropped the financing deal it made. Miramax had earlier distributed another film for Moore, The Big One, in 1997.
At that time, Disney was the parent company of Miramax. According to the book DisneyWar, Disney executives didn’t know that Miramax agreed to finance the film until they saw a posting on the Drudge Report. Afterward, Michael Eisner (who was the CEO of Disney at that time) called Harvey Weinstein (who was the co-chairman of Miramax at that time) and required him to drop the film. In addition, Disney sent two letters to Weinstein demanding Miramax drop the film. Weinstein felt Disney had no right to block them from releasing Fahrenheit 9/11 since the film’s $6 million budget was well below the level that Miramax needed to seek Disney’s approval, and it wouldn’t be rated NC-17. But Weinstein was in contract negotiations with Disney, so he offered compromises and said that he would drop the film if Disney didn’t like it. Disney responded by having Peter Murphy send Weinstein a letter stating that the film’s $6 million budget was only a bridge financing and Miramax would sell off their interest in the movie to get those $6 million back; according to the same letter, Miramax was also expected to publicly state that they wouldn’t release the film.
After Fahrenheit 9/11 was nearly finished, Miramax held several preview screenings for the film; in the screenings, the film was “testing through the roof.” Afterward, Harvey Weinstein said to Michael Eisner that Fahrenheit 9/11 was finished, and Eisner was surprised by the fact that Miramax had continued making the film.Weinstein asked several Disney executives (including Eisner) to watch the film, but all of them declined; Disney stated again that Miramax wouldn’t release the film, and Disney also accused Weinstein of hiding Fahrenheit 9/11 by keeping it off production reports.Finally, Disney sent their production vice president Brad Epstein to watch Fahrenheit 9/11 on April 24, 2004.According to Weinstein, Epstein said to Weinstein that he liked the film; but according to the report Epstein sent to Disney board, Epstein clearly criticized it. Afterward, Eisner told Weinstein that Disney board decided not to allow Miramax to release the film.Weinstein was furious and he asked George J. Mitchell (who was the chairman of Disney at that time) to see the film, but Mitchell declined. Later, Weinstein asked lawyer David Boies to help him find a solution.
The New York Times reported about Disney’s decision on May 5, 2004.Disney stated that both Moore’s agent (Ari Emanuel) and Miramax were advised in May 2003 that Miramax would not be permitted to distribute the film. Disney representatives claim that Disney has the right to veto any Miramax film if it appears that their distribution would be counterproductive to the interests of the company. Disney had blocked Miramax from releasing two films before: Kids and Dogma.
An unnamed Disney executive said that the film was against Disney’s interests not because of government business dealings, but because releasing it would risk being “dragged into a highly charged partisan political battle” and alienating customers. Emanuel stated that Disney chief executive Michael Eisner requested that he back out of the Miramax deal, expressing concerns about political fallout from conservative politicians, especially regarding tax breaks given to Disney properties in Florida (e.g., Walt Disney World), where Jeb Bush is governor. Disney also has financial ties to members of the Saudi royal family, who were represented unfavorably in the film. Moore admitted later in a CNN interview that Disney had told him they did not want the film a year earlier, however, he had been advised by representatives that Miramax would continue to fund filming. Seemingly in approval, Disney continued to fund Fahrenheit 9/11 via Miramax throughout the remaining year of production.
Due to these difficulties, distribution for the film was first secured in numerous countries outside the U.S. On May 28, 2004, after more than a week of talks, Disney announced that Miramax film studio founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein had personally acquired the rights to the documentary from Walt Disney Co. after Disney declined to distribute it. The Weinsteins agreed to repay Disney for all costs of the film to that point, estimated at around $6 million. They also agreed to be responsible for all costs to finish the film and all marketing costs not paid by any third-party film distributors. A settlement between the Weinsteins and Disney was also reached so that 60% of the film’s profit would be donated to charity.
Later, The Weinsteins established Fellowship Adventure Group to handle the distribution of this film. Fellowship Adventure Group joined forces with Lions Gate Entertainment (which had released two other Miramax-financed films O and Dogma) and IFC Films to release this film in the United States theatrically. (Later, Fellowship Adventure Group also handled this film’s United States home video distribution via Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment). Moore stated that he was “grateful to them now that everyone who wants to see it will now have the chance to do so.”
After being informed that the film had been rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America, Moore appealed the decision, hoping to obtain a PG-13 rating instead. (The R rating requires anyone under the age of 17 to be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.) Moore’s lawyer, former Governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, was not allowed to attend the hearing. The appeal was denied on June 22, 2004, and Cuomo contended that it was because he had been banned from the hearing. Some theaters chose to defy the MPAA and allow unchaperoned teenagers to attend screenings. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Film and Broadcasting gave the film an A-III rating, meaning that it was, in their judgment, “morally unobjectionable for adults” (this is the mildest rating typically given by the organization to motion pictures that are rated R by the MPAA). Moore commented that he was willing to “sneak anyone in.”
