Filmmaker Michael Moore targeting economic crisis

Filmmaker Michael Moore targeting economic crisis
Thu May 21, 5:02 PM

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Firebrand filmmaker Michael Moore, who targeted the Bush administration in "Fahrenheit 9/11" and the healthcare industry in "Sicko," is now focusing on the global economic meltdown.

The Oscar-winning director will release his as-yet-untitled documentary across North America on October 2, co-financiers Overture Films and Paramount Vantage said on Thursday.

"The wealthy, at some point, decided they didn't have enough wealth," the statement quoted Moore as saying.

"They wanted more -- a lot more. So they systematically set about to fleece the American people out of their hard-earned money. Now, why would they do this? That is what I seek to discover in this movie."

Overture said Moore was still working on the film, and was keeping plot details close to his vest in typical fashion.

Liberty Media Corp-owned Overture will handle the film's domestic release both in theaters and ancillary outlets, while Viacom Inc-owned Paramount Vantage will handle international sales.

Moore, 55, previously touched on economic carnage with his 1989 breakthrough "Roger and Me," in which he documented the effect of General Motors' decline on his hometown of Flint, Michigan.

He was most recently in North American theaters with "Sicko" on the U.S. healthcare industry, which sold about $25 million worth of tickets in 2007.

He won an Academy Award in 2003 for his gun-control study "Bowling for Columbine," and followed up the following year with the incendiary "Fahrenheit 9/11," which savaged former President George W. Bush and the war on terrorism. It was a box office smash, with domestic ticket sales of about $120 million, but Moore did not achieve his aim of denying Bush a second term.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman; editing by Vicki Allen)