'Fahrenheit' breaks box office records

Posted Monday, June 28, 2004 at 6:07 AM Central

by Tim Briscoe

Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 debuted number one at the box office this weekend. A first for any documentary outside from concert films and IMAX movies.

The film's estimated weekend take of $21.8 million also made it the largest grossing documentary of all-time. It broke the record held my Moore's previous Academy Award-winning film Bowling For Columbine, which earned $21.6 million over approximately 30 weeks in U.S. theaters.

Fahrenheit 9/11 is Moore's assault on the actions of President Bush following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The film won the top prize at last month's Cannes Film Festival. It has been embraced by liberal groups and assailed by conservatives who even discouraged some theaters from showing it.

Fahrenheit opened on 868 screens this weekend. The remainder of the films in the top ten each appeared on an average of 2,755 theater screens.