- Dear friends,
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- I have some great news to share with you.
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- "Bowling for Columbine" has set the new all-time
opening weekend box office record ($27,000 per screen avg.) for a documentary
in the United States! Thank you SO MUCH -- all of you who stood in those
enormous lines in Los Angeles and New York trying to get in but couldn't.
The unprecedented outpouring of support for this film sent a shock wave
through Hollywood. An astounding 18 films opened last Friday in NYC and
L.A. -- so, for a documentary to do this well in such a crowded field,
it was the last thing anyone expected. And? to break the record set nearly
13 years ago by "Roger & Me" -- it was the only way it should
have happened!
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- Here's a sample of one of the thousands of e-mails I
received this week:
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- "A group of us went to see 'Bowling for Columbine'
tonight -- to a completely packed house in the big theater at Loews 19th
St. Besides laughter overriding scenes, tears, and applause throughout,
there was a spontaneous cheer -- quite loud and sustained -- with the applause
at the end of the film. I have never seen that kind of thing in a theater
in New York. But I understand. I couldn't keep myself from laughing out
loud and crying throughout. And folks didn't rush out, as New Yorkers do.
Almost everybody sat through to the end of the credits and left the theater
talking furiously. The audience was blown away by the film. It was clear
everyone in that room was. This film will do well. It needs to."
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- Well, now, the true test comes tomorrow -- will the film
survive as it expands to the next 20 cities this weekend? I hate how the
Hollywood movie distribution system works for independent films -- a week
at a time and, depending how well it fares each weekend, that determines
if people living farther out from the largest urban areas will get to see
the movie. But that's the way it is and I am confident you will help me
beat it.
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- So, if you live in or near any of the following areas,
this weekend is your chance to see what I believe may be my best work to
date:
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- NEW YORK CITY AREA Lincoln Plaza Cinemas - Manhattan
Landmark Sunshine Cinemas - Manhattan Loews 19th St. Theater - Manhattan
Jaco Bam Rose 4 - Brooklyn, NY Roosevelt Raceway 10 - Westbury NY Nam Island
16 - Holtsville NY Nam Sawmill 10 - Hawthorne NY Fine Arts - Scarsdale
NY Jacob Burns Film Center - Pleasantville NY Jaco Bethel - Bethel CT Garden
3 - Norwalk CT Montgomery Center - Rocky Hill NJ
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- LOS ANGELES AREA Regent - Westwood CA Laemmle Sunset
5 - Los Angeles CA Laemmle Town Center - Encino CA Landmark Rialto South
- Pasedena CA Regal Edwards University ? Irvine CA Laemmle Westlake Village
2 ? Westlake Village CA ESP Los Feliz 3 - Los Angeles CA AMC Rolling Hill
- Torrance CA AMC Media Center 8 - Burbank CA AMC Promenade 16 - Woodland
Hills CA Westlake Village 2 - Westlake Village CA
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- CHICAGO Pipers Alley 4 - Chicago IL Century Cinearts
6 - Evanston IL Landmark Renaissance Place - Highland Park IL
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- PHILADELPHIA Ritz at the Bourse - Philadelphia PA Ritz
6 - Voorhees NJ
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- SAN FRANCISCO Landmark Embarcadero 5 - San Francisco
Landmark Aquarius 2 - Palo Alto CA Camera One - San Jose CA Landmark Piedmont
3 - Oakland CA Landmark Act 1 & 2 - Berkeley CA Century Arts Sequoia
2 - Mill Valley CA
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- BOSTON Copley Place Cinemas 11 - Boston MA Landmark Kendall
Square - Cambridge MA Landmark Embassy 6 - Waltham MA Coolidge Corner Theater
- Brookline MA
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- WASHINGTON DC DuPont Circle 5 - Washington DC Shirlington
7 - Arlington VA Bethesda Row Cinema 8 - Bethesda MD
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- SEATTLE Landmark Egyptian - Seattle WA
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- SAN DIEGO Landmark Hillcrest Cinema 5 - San Diego CA
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- This weekend, the film also opens in Canada, starting
in Toronto and Vancouver. I will send a separate email this weekend to
all my friends in foreign countries about when the film (and other goodies)
will be coming your way.
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- But for those of you who packed the theatres in New York
and Los Angeles this past week, I want you to know that your attendance
at my film has resulted in me having a much larger forum in which to speak
out against the war on Iraq and the other misdeeds of the Bush administration.
After being virtually banned from the airwaves during the release of my
book, that wall has been broken down by this film's success. I've been
able to be a "stand-in" for all of you and say the things on
prime time TV that never get said. Mainstream publications like People
Magazine (whose critic called the film "provocative, entertaining
and maddening -- a must see!") are running feature stories, and this
weekend I'm spending the entire hour with Tim Russert on his CNBC show.
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- But the thing I'm looking forward to the most will happen
on Monday night when Phil Donahue will broadcast his MSNBC show LIVE from
Flint with an audience of Flint residents and myself. I'll be sure to remind
you of this on Monday.
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- Last night we had the DC premiere of the film amidst
a very tense atmosphere as people came into the theatre (a block from the
Maryland border) looking both ways and then some. We raised over $50,000
for various groups fighting the Bush agenda. Similar benefit screenings
of the film are taking place in cities all across the country this week.
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- One other piece of news: 81 House Democrats and 29 Senate
Democrats last week sided with Bush in his resolution to attack Iraq. They,
like all the other Democrats, received the petition that many of you signed
vowing not to vote for them if they supported the war. Within 72 hours
of posting that petition on my website, over 50,000 of you signed it. It
was an awesome response, and the Republicrats are now on notice: If we
can't get rid of you on November 5th, we suggest that you start perusing
the want ads or monster.com because we promise that you will soon be serving
your last term in Congress. As for the 126 Democrats in the House and the
21 others in the Senate who heeded the will of the people, we commend you
for your courage. Thank you.
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- Finally, my apologies to those who have had a hard time
getting on my website this week. The server blew out several times from
all the heavy traffic. Last January, I was getting 70,000 hits a month.
In September, my site got 17 million. In just six hours last Friday, we
registered 3 million hits before the server cried "Uncle!" Things
are fine now, so check out some of our new stuff, including the weekly
missions from Mike's Office of Homeland Security.
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- Thanks again everyone -- and see ya at THE movie this
weekend!
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- Yours,
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- Michael Moore
Writer, Director,
Inhabitant of a No-Fly Zone
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- www.michaelmoore.com
mmflint@aol.com
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