SiCKO: How corporate money kills the message, if not the messenger.

[ConsAreLiars]

You may have heard of Michael Moore's film SiCKO. But the odds that it has shown up in a nearby movie theater may be less than you might have expected. Outstanding reviews and good PR suggested good box office. What happened? Well, it seems that the distributor (Lions Gate) was taken over just before the the film was to be released for mass distribution by an individual with lots of stake in the medical scams that now profit from the way things are.

Link: http://lesliehayes.blogspot.com/2007/08/doctor-buys-334-of-lions-gate-shares-1.html

Now this is just some obscure blogger. He may be telling the truth of what happened and is being ignored by corporate media (wouldn't be the first case) or he's just making up shit (that wouldn't be the first case either). I've looked around a bit and couldn't find any evidence for or against, but I'm inclined to view this post as an accurate explanation of what has happened to that film and the message it carried.

Anyone know more about this?

[Mind_your_head]

1. Kick

Yes, Sicko has 'gone quiet' now that you mention it. It is an excellent film and should have sparked more discussion/views than "Bowling for Columbine" did. What happened?

I'm kicking this b/c I want to be able to find this in the morning and see what other DU'ers have to say.

Thanks for bringing 'Sicko' back up to the front again.

[2rth2pwr]

2. Box office numbers may not tell the whole story

Moore gave a wink and a nod to download his movie for free from P2P sites.

[democrat2thecore]

3. Well......

I don't buy the bloggers story.

SICKO is the 3rd highest grossing documentary film since they began keeping records in 1982.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=documentary.htm

I have heard the planning for the DVD release is said to be massive - including informational materials for house party type get-togethers, etc.

[Downtown Hound]

4. Sicko did more in domestic box office than Bowling for Columbine did

I'd hardly call that a failure. People are naturally going to compare it to F-911, which did extraordinary box office. But that movie was a phenomenon, and such phenomenons don't come around very often. Sicko did very well for a documentary, and it's still taking in foreign box office, so when all is said and done it may be the second highest grossing documentary of all time. Not too shabby.

Personally I think they screwed up by only releasing it in small bits at a time to select theaters. They were hoping to stretch out its success. But I think all that really happened is that people lost interest after a while. They might have made a little more money if they had flooded theaters with it while it was still new and the hottest topic around. Oh well. What's really important is the message, and I think that got out loud and clear.

[ConsAreLiars]

5. Who decided to reduce the initial release to 1/4 the number originally planned?

And why? The buyer with all the "health care" money and connections? I agree that it was a bad decision that reduced the effectiveness of the film. As you say "they screwed up." The blogger suggests that this was deliberate sabotage, not incompetence. After all, the company did rather well when it was controlled by the Weinteins and distributed F911, and there was no reason to change that model, other than the change in who held controlling interest.

[Downtown Hound]

6. Who knows?

I read an interview with Weinstein who at the time supported the idea of only releasing it in small spurts. Maybe he was talked into it somehow. We'll never know fully what the truth is. But either way, Sicko did all right. It could have done better, but again, the message got out, and that's what's truly important.

[Garbo 2004]

7. Weinstein says they're keeping it in theaters, re-releasing this Fall:

Michael Moore's 'SiCKO' Becomes the Third Highest Grossing Documentary of All Time Surpassing 'An Inconvenient Truth'
Sunday September 9, 6:56 pm ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- "SiCKO," Michael Moore's highly acclaimed and entertaining expose of the American health care system, has just become the third highest grossing documentary of all time grossing $24.2 million domestically since it debuted in theaters on June 29th. "SiCKO," one of the most talked about films of the year, moved into third place taking the spot of previous record holder "An Inconvenient Truth" and behind Moore's previous film "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "March of the Penguins." The announcement was made today by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company.

Harvey Weinstein stated, "It's an incredible achievement for 'SiCKO' to have become the third highest grossing film in the history of documentaries. We are going to keep the movie in theaters and plan to re-release it during the Fall so that audiences continue to have a chance to experience this entertaining and profound documentary."

"SiCKO" has been playing in theaters nationwide for over nine weeks and had the second highest opening weekend of all time for a documentary.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070909/nysu016.html?.v=1

Previously, about the reduction in the screens, from Variety:

After "Bowling for Columbine" and "Supersize Me" helped heat up the genre, the bar was set awfully high for docus, with "March of the Penguins," "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "An Inconvenient Truth" upping the stakes even more.

This year, though, the public's love affair with docs seems to have cooled, with 29 releases grossing less than $2 million combined. Many hope "Sicko" can add some spark to the genre, but the docu world is seeing a market correction.

Instead of a wide release of "Sicko," the bow has been scaled back to something closer to 800 runs, and TWC says it's hoping for a gross in the range of "Bowling for Columbine's" $21.6 million, not "Fahrenheit's" $119 million.

The return to rationality was perhaps inevitable for a corner of the film market that hasn't traditionally drawn huge buzz or box office.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117967053.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

What has Michael Moore said? If there was some conspiracy by the US distributor to stifle his film, he surely wouldn't be quiet about it.

[bbgrunt]

8. something strange is definitely going on--don't live in a big

city, but haven't been able to find a showing anywhere.