LONDON -- Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" broke the British box office record for a documentary in its opening weekend by taking $2.4 million, the film's British distributor said Monday.
The film -- a vitriolic assault on President George W. Bush over the Sept. 11 attacks and the Iraq war -- opened Friday on 132 British screens and has received standing ovations from audiences.
Distribution company Optimum Releasing said the previous opening weekend record for a documentary was set by Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," which took $292,300 in its first three days.
The early success of "Fahrenheit 9/11" meant it was likely to become the biggest grossing documentary ever in Britain. The record is held by the 2003 mountaineering film "Touching the Void," which took $4.77 million.
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/news/wire/sns-ap-britain-fahrenheit-911,0,7244980.story?coll=sns-ap-entertainment-headlinesAnd how is it doing here in the USA?
"Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" was a healthy holdover in its third weekend, at No. 4 with $11 million and raising its total to $80.1 million. Moore's assault on President Bush over the Sept. 11 attacks, "Fahrenheit 9/11" appears headed beyond $100 million, which would make it the first documentary to cross that mark."
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/news/wire/sns-ap-box-office,0,2712744.story?coll=sns-ap-entertainment-headlines