Home > Fahrenheit 9/11 controversy
Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore's 2004 documentary film about Bush, 9/11, and Iraq, has generated controversy and criticisms from a wide variety of sources.1 Release controversy
Originally planned for distribution by Mel Gibson's Icon Productions , Fahrenheit 9/11 was later picked up by Miramax after Icon released claims to the movie in May 2003, citing image conflicts while claiming the decision to be apolitical. Miramax had earlier distributed another film for Moore, The Big One, in 1997.
In May 2004, Moore announced that Disney (the parent company of Miramax) was blocking the distribution of Fahrenheit 9/11 in North America, citing a contractual clause expressly permitting it to do so in such cases as a prohibitive budget or explicit movie rating. However, Miramax executives indicated this was not the case. 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.
An unnamed Disney executive said that the film is 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 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 BushJohn Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is the forty-third and current governor of Florida. Early years Jeb Bush was born in Midland, Texas where his father was running an oil drilling company. He has been known by his initials JEB, since childhood is governor. Moore acknowledged in a later CNN interview that Disney had told him they did not want the film the previous year, however, he had been informed by the liasons to Disney to continue filming, anyway, and they would convince the firm's higher-ups. Seemingly in approval, Disney continued to fund Fahrenheit 9/11 throughout the remaining year of production.
Due to these difficulties, distribution for the film was first secured in numerous countries other than the U.S. On May 28May 28 is the 148th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (149th in leap years). There are 217 days remaining. Events 585 BC A solar eclipse occurred, as predicted by Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares, leading to a truce. This is one of the, 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. One month later, the major rights to the film reverted completely to Lions Gate FilmsLions Gate Films is a Canadian film production and distribution company that is currently the largest and most successful independent film distributor/studio in North America. It is a subsidiary of Lions Gate Entertainment. It focuses mainly on foreign an, which in partnership with the Weinstein's newly-formed company Fellowship Adventure Group (which handled its home video distribution via Columbia/Tri-Star Home Entertainment) and IFC Films acquired the film for domestic theatrical distribution, beating out other studios such as Fox SearchlightTwentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation is one of the Big Ten movie studios, located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, California, just west of Beverly Hills. The studio is a subsidiary of News Corporation, the Australian media conglomerate o and United ArtistsThe United Artists Corporation (aka United Artists Pictures and United Artists Films was formed on February 5, 1919 by four Hollywood greats: Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and D. Their motive was to challenge the power of the major stu. Furthermore, a settlement was reached so that any profits from the film's distribution that go to Miramax or Disney would be donated to charity. The Weinsteins repaid their parent company 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. Moore called the deal a "fair and equitable solution" and added 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 AmericaThe Motion Picture Association of America MPAA is a non-profit trade association formed to advance the interests of movie studios. Its members consist of seven major studios: the Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures,, Moore appealed the decision, hoping to obtain a PG-13 rating for the movie instead (the R rating requires anyone under the age of 17 to be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian, otherwise they will not be admitted). Moore's lawyer, former Governor of New York Mario Cuomo, was not allowed at the hearing. The appeal was denied on June 22, 2004, and Gov. Cuomo contends it was because he was banned from the hearing. Some theaters chose to defy the MPAA and allow unchaperoned teenagers to attend anyway. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office For Film And Broadcasting gave the film its A-III rating, meaning that it is, 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 has commented that he is willing to "sneak anyone in."
The film was released domestically in June of 2004, thus the U.S. still became the first country to see the film's actual theatrical release, despite the fact that the arrangements for international distribution were finalized earlier. On October 5, 2004, when the film was released to home video, the theatrical distribution rights reverted back to the Fellowship Adventure Group, although Lions Gate still holds the copyright under a dummy company pseudonym (as they have done for their other in-house productions).
