Michael Moore's Sept. 11 documentary looking for distributor

NEW YORK -- Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," which criticizes President Bush's handling of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and connects the Bush family with Osama bin Laden's, won't be released through Miramax Films on orders from parent company Disney.\nMoore believes The Walt Disney Co. is worried the documentary will endanger tax breaks the company receives from Florida, where Bush's brother Jeb is governor.\nBut the timing couldn't be better to stir up discussion: "Fahrenheit 9/11" is making its world premiere as one of 18 films screening in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, which begins May 12.\n"Heading into Cannes, you've got this whole controversy that people will be talking about -- Miramax not being able to release the film. It adds to the mystique of the film, it adds to the danger," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.\n"With a lot of filmmakers, this would not be a good thing," he said. "When it comes to Michael Moore, there's not really a downside to him to have controversy."\nThe confrontational director won an Oscar for his 2002 documentary "Bowling for Columbine," about the Columbine High School shooting and U.S. gun control policy. The film earned $21.5 million at the box office, making it the highest-grossing documentary ever. He's also known for the 1989 film "Roger & Me," which explored the effects of General Motors on his hometown of Flint, Mich.\nDergarabedian said "Fahrenheit 9/11" will find a distributor, possibly even before Cannes.\nDisney chief executive Michael Eisner agreed. "That film will get a distributor easily," he told CNBC in an interview Wednesday from Disneyland.\nEisner said Disney "did not want a film in the middle of the political process where we're such a nonpartisan company and our guests, that participate in all of our attractions, do not look for us to take sides.\n"But I think it's a totally appropriate film and I can think of about 11 people who would love to have it," he added.\nMiramax spokesman Matthew Hiltzik told The Associated Press: "We hope to amicably resolve the situation in the near future."\nMoore did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.\nMel Gibson, director of "The Passion of the Christ," had difficulty finding someone willing to release his graphic telling of the last hours of Christ's life. Major studios were wary because some religious leaders feared it would foster anti-Semitism.\nBut whether filmgoers showed up at theaters to be inspired or appalled, they showed up -- and "The Passion," under independent distributor Newmarket Films, has made more than $366 million in the past 10 weeks.\nMeanwhile, Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., has asked the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation for a hearing on what he called a "disturbing pattern of politically based corporate censorship of the news media and the entertainment industry."\nLautenberg argued Wednesday in a letter to his committee chairman, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that Disney (through Miramax) has the violent "Kill Bill -- Vol. 2" in theaters now, but is blocking Moore's film based on its political viewpoint.\nIn the movie, Moore interviewed author Craig Unger about his book "House of Bush, House of Saud," which details the Bush-Saudi relationship going back to the 1970s.\n"I found about $1.4 billion in investments and contracts going from the House of Saud to companies in which the Bushes and their allies -- I'm including Dick Cheney, for example -- have had prominent positions," Unger said.\nThe book and the film also say the government helped 140 Saudis leave the United States on Sept. 13, 2001 -- two dozen of whom were bin Laden's relatives.\nUnger said that while he hadn't seen the film, "There's clearly a big audience for this and I think the intent to kill it will fail." He pointed to several recent books besides his own that critically examine the Bush administration, including Ron Suskind's "The Price of Loyalty," Richard Clarke's "Against All Enemies" and Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack."\nDisney has a contractual agreement with Miramax principals Bob and Harvey Weinstein allowing it to prevent the company from distributing films under certain circumstances, such as an NC-17 rating or a budget of more than $30-35 million.\nMiramax had a similar conflict in 1995 with "Kids" director Larry Clark's graphic depiction of juvenile delinquency. Because Disney was contractually prohibited from releasing unrated movies, and had forbidden Miramax from releasing NC-17 films, the Weinsteins set up a new company, Shining Excalibur Films, to distribute "Kids."\nMoore previously ran into interference with his book "Stupid White Men." Publication was postponed after Sept. 11, 2001, and publisher HarperCollins considered canceling the book or editing its criticisms.\nAfter lengthy discussions, "Stupid White Men" came out uncensored. It almost immediately sold out a first printing of 50,000 and went on to top The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list.