President George Bush will face a home video barrage four weeks before the election: Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore’s assault on Bush’s handling of the September 11 attacks, debuts on DVD and videotape on October 5.
The announcement on Tuesday confirmed Moore’s initial intention to have the film out shortly before election day, a time frame the director favoured since May’s Cannes Film Festival, where Fahrenheit 9/11 won the top honour.
After the movie debuted to record box-office numbers for a documentary, distributor Lions Gate had indicated the movie might continue playing theatrically through the end of the year, potentially delaying the home-video release.
The film has grossed $115-million domestically, the first documentary ever to top the $100-million mark.
Sony’s Columbia TriStar home entertainment unit will release the film on DVD and videotape.
Among DVD extras will be a featurette examining the release of Fahrenheit 9/11, which lost its theatrical distributor last spring after Disney refused to let subsidiary Miramax handle the film because of its political content. Miramax bosses Harvey and Bob Weinstein bought back the film and lined up distribution through Lions Gate and IFC Films.
Also featured on the DVD will be:
Deleted footage that includes a scene outside Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, where seven US soldiers have been charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners.
Coverage of Lila Lipscomb — the mother of a US soldier killed in Iraq, who was featured prominently in Fahrenheit 9/11 — at the film’s premiere in Washington.
An examination of the acts and experiences of Arab-American comedians after the September 11 attacks. – Sapa-AP