Fan Fare
Entertainment behind the scenes
Michael Moore’s “Capitalism” wins fans in week No. 1
After a month-long publicity blitz, director Michael Moore’s new documentary, “Capitalism: A Love Story” finally opened in a few theaters in major U.S. cities this past weekend. The movie, in which Moore looks at last year’s financial market collapse and the economic fallout that ensued, will broaden its release to theaters around the United States this coming Friday.
The movie performed well at box offices this past weekend, taking in about $240,000 from 4 locations or roughly $60,000 per location. By contrast, No. 1 movie “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” took in around $7,900 per location in more than 3,100 theaters. You can read our box office report here.
The comparison is not direct because “Capitalism” is a documentary, and those films generally do not do as well as feature films like “Cloudy” at box offices. Still, Moore’s movies (“Fahrenheit 9/11,” “SiCKO” and “Bowling for Columbine” to name a few), have always done very well and in some sense played more like feature films than documentaries.
Moore is, in fact, in a league all his own when it comes to his firebrand style of documentary film. Our blog items and stories about “Capitalism” have elicited a lot of responses. Our story from the Venice film festival is here, and this is a Hollywood Reporter review. And if that’s not enough background, you can read our “Capitalism” Fan Fare blog item from the Toronto film festival here.
If not capitalism, then what? Michael Moore’s not too sure.
(writing and reporting by Cameron French)
Does Michael Moore really advocate abandoning capitalism? Welllllll, not exactly.
In his new documentary film, “Capitalism: A Love Story,” which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival Sunday night, the filmmaker behind anti-war documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11″ and anti-gun Oscar winner “Bowling for Columbine” argues that capitalism has ruined the United States and should be eliminated, likening it to a Ponzi scheme that only benefits those at the top.
