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Moore tools up for another furor
NEW YORK (Variety) - Michael Moore, who didn't endear himself to the Oscar
audience last Sunday, will doubtless arouse further ire with his next
documentary.
The project will depict the allegedly murky relationship between President
Bush (news - web sites)'s father and the family of Osama bin Laden (news -
web sites). And it will suggest that the bin Laden family was greatly
enriched by that association.
Moore is making a deal with Mel Gibson's Icon Prods. to finance "Fahrenheit
911," a documentary that will trace why the U.S. has become a target for
hatred and terrorism. It will also depict alleged dealings between two
generations of the Bush and bin Laden clans that led to George W. Bush and
Osama bin Laden becoming mortal enemies.
While the words "fevered auction" and "documentary" should never be used in
the same sentence, they fit the post-Oscar bidding battle orchestrated by the
Endeavor talent agency. Gibson and Bruce Davey's Icon won with a bid worth
eight figures in upfront cash and potential backend profits.
The deal comes as Moore's Oscar-winning "Bowling for Columbine" moves toward
the $40 million worldwide gross mark. The $3 million film is one of the most
successful documentaries ever.
"The primary thrust of the new film is what has happened to the country since
Sept. 11, and how the Bush administration used this tragic event to push its
agenda," Moore said. "It certainly does deal with the Bush and bin Laden
ties. It asks a number of questions that I don't have the answers to yet, but
which I intend to find out."
Moore has put a year's worth of research into the film. He'll finish it in
time to be submitted for Cannes, 2004, and released in time for the
presidential election that fall.
The Bush-bin Laden tie, if only circumstantial, begins with a business
relationship between the former president and Mohammed bin Laden, the Yemeni-
born father of Osama who was a Saudi construction magnate. He died and left
his future terrorist son about $300 million that has been used to finance
global violence. The young bin Laden was among the freedom fighters propped
up by the CIA (news - web sites) as they battled the Soviets in Afghanistan
(news - web sites) when the elder Bush headed that agency. And bin Laden's Al
Qaeda campaign began after Bush put U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia during the
Gulf War (news - web sites). A decade later, bin Laden's Twin Tower attacks
made the battle against terrorism the prime focus of George W.'s presidency.
"The senior Bush kept his ties with the bin Laden family up until two months
after Sept. 11," Moore said. "The bin Ladens invested heavily in the Carlyle
Group, which has its hands in a number of pies and is the 11th largest
defense contractor even though it mostly buys failing defense companies and
sells them for profits."
The mood in Hollywood was mixed over whether Moore would be ridden out of
town after his anti-war speech. He admitted his passion was partly fueled
from the research he's done on the new movie and said public and industry
reaction was overwhelmingly positive.
"I'd always watched and felt a little odd seeing actors win an Oscar and go
off on some tangent cause. I'd just been given a standing ovation and an
Oscar for a movie that deals not only with American gun violence, but how
Bush manipulates the public with fear and how we are violent to people around
the world. I expressed exactly what was in the film and instead of being
blacklisted, I've not only gotten a deal to fund 'Fahrenheit 911' but offers
on the film after. Presales on ("Columbine's") video release ran ahead
of 'Chicago' this week, and my book is returning to the top spot on the New
York Times bestseller list. It's because the majority of Americans agree with
me see the economy in the toilet and didn't vote for George W. People are now
realizing you can question your government while still caring about the
soldiers. We are all still filled with rage over Sept. 11 and have every
right to seek vengeance on the bad guy. But not any old bad guy."
Moore said he was mildly surprised by the speech reaction, since it was a
carbon copy of what he said at the Spirit Awards the previous day: "I didn't
write an Oscar speech because I never thought we'd win. The last documentary
that was a box office success and won the Oscar was 'Woodstock,"' Moore said.
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