It appears the Weinstein’s have been working the numbers and have decided that Sicko is a disease that can only be cured with a wider release. We get the scoop about the plunder of more theaters from our friends at slashfilm:
The Weinstein Co and Lionsgate were originally planning on releasing the documentary in 200-250 theaters, and that number was pre-internet leak. Many people assumed the company would downplay the release, but it seems like Weinstein was very impressed with this weekends results. The film will now be released on 300 to 400 screens, almost half the amount of Moore’s 2004 doc Fahrenheit 9/11.
This is sweet news folks. It is no surprise to me, when a documentary touches on an issue like health care it only makes sense that it will be a popular film. I personally hate it when a film has limited release, it is such a pain to get out and see them. In the future I would hope that films with limited release are made available on the internet the same day.
Sicko is getting great reviews and surprisingly from both sides of the American political divide. It looks like this may be shaping up to be Michael Moore’s biggest success to date. I think this is great news for not only Moore but for all documentary film makers. I would love to start seeing more wide release documentaries and I hope that films like this will cause a tipping point.
