More Moore
Even though his film didn’t prevent Bush’s reelection, he says the war on terror will remain relevant enough to merit a similar exploration in two or three years time.
Fahrenheit 9/11 is the most lucrative documentary ever made, so a little thing like the movie’s failure to sway voters from reelecting President Bush isn’t going to stop Michael Moore and Miramax cochief Harvey Weinstein from making a sequel. It’ll be called Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2. ”We want to get cameras rolling now and have it ready in two, three years,” Moore told Variety, noting that the first film’s issues, like terrorism and Iraq, will still be relevant. ”Fifty-one percent of the American people lacked information [in this election] and we want to educate and enlighten them. They weren’t told the truth. We’re communicators and it’s up to us to start doing it now.”
Moore said he rejects the notion that his $119 million-grossing movie and other celebrities’ overt campaigning against Bush created an anti-Hollywood backlash that helped the President. ”America loves Hollywood. When given a chance to vote for someone from Hollywood, they jump in,” he said, though he acknowledged that almost all the stars voted into office have been Republicans. ”Who is the Democrats’ Arnold? We have a number of them. What American wouldn’t vote for Tom Hanks? Hollywood is full of people like that.” (Let us know when one of them considers running for office, Mike.)
Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2 will follow Moore’s next movie, an exposÈ of the U.S. health care system, called Sicko. In the short term, however, Moore and Weinstein will be campaigning for Oscars for the first Fahrenheit. Earlier this week, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association said the film was ineligible for any Golden Globes (which would boost its Oscar chances) because it’s a documentary, but Moore acknowledged that the film doesn’t neatly fit into any of the Globes’ categories. ”We’re not a musical, comedy, or dramatic feature.” As for whether he might reprise his notoriously angry 2003 Oscar acceptance speech for Bowling for Columbine, he said, ”I don’t know if people want to see me on the stage of the Kodak again.” However, he noted, the Best Picture trophy goes not to the director but to the producer. ”Since my wife [Kathleen Glynn] was the producer, if I win ó she speaks!”
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