"Fahrenheit" Finds Distributors

Michael Moore's ready to launch some serious fireworks just in time for the Fourth of July.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker's latest lightning rod of a documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, has finally secured a U.S. release date. A consortium of indie studios will release the flick on June 25.

"On behalf of my stellar cast--GW, Dick, Rummy, Condi and Wolfie--we thank this incredible coalition of the willing for bringing Fahrenheit 9/11 to the people," Moore said in a statement.

The trailer for Fahrenheit 9/11 will debut on Moore's Website, michaelmoore.com, on Thursday, a day before it premiers in theaters.

Disney had deemed Fahrenheit 9/11, which is critical of the Bush administration, too hot for release in an election year and refused to release the film through its Miramax division, which had greenlighted the documentary.

Then, fresh off its Palme d'Or at last month's Cannes Film Festival, Miramax cochiefs Harvey and Bob Weinstein bought back the rights to Fahrenheit 9/11 from Disney for $6 million, essentially what it cost the Mouse House to finance the film.

The brothers Weinstein formed their own company, named the Fellowship Adventure Group, to release the film.

After deciding against going at it alone, the Weinsteins joined forces with Lions Gate Films and IFC Films to distribute the doc, which probes the Bush family's ties to prominent Saudis, including the family of Osama bin Laden, and blasts the President's handling of 9-11 and his rush to war in Iraq.

Showtime, which has an existing agreement with Lions Gate, landed the U.S. pay-TV rights. A deal is still being worked out for home-video rights, though sources close to negotiations say Universal Home Video looks like the leading candidate, with Lions Gate's own home-entertainment division the darkhorse.

Quoth the Weinsteins: "This is a true coalition. The passion that Lions Gate, IFC Films and Showtime have demonstrated reflects our desire to enable Michael Moore's extraordinary work to be viewed by as many filmgoers as possible as soon as possible."

While the details still have to be ironed out, Fahrenheit 9/11 is expected to unspool on about 1,000 screens across the country, making it the biggest release ever for a documentary.

No word on how the partners will divvy up the distribution fees, but according to a joint statement, the Weinsteins' Fellowship will "personally finance and control distribution and marketing" of the movie while IFC and Lions Gate will help pay for promotion and advertising.

To placate Disney, the Weinsteins also issued orders to the Miramax marketing staff forbidding employees from being involved in any way with Fahrenheit 9/11's distribution. Instead, the brothers have tapped former Miramax staffer Matthew Cohen as a consultant to oversee the advertising campaign.

All the principals are now ramping up their resources to get the film in theaters in just three weeks. The distributors are frantically buying TV ads, cutting trailers, locking down screens and getting the necessary prints in order.

The rush to theaters is an attempt to capitalize on all the ink Fahrenheit 9/11 has generated. With Disney's dumping of the film, Moore's big mouth, the Cannes win and former President George H. W. Bush calling the director "a slimeball," the documentary is generating buzz akin to Mel Gibson's The Passion.

The release date is also very significant because it gives the Weinsteins the Fourth of July holiday weekend, when moviegoers jam the multiplexes. Once the film plays out in theaters, it will be released on home video in the fall, just as the presidential race reaches its fever pitch.

Lions Gate has a history of helping out the Weinsteins, having taken Kevin Smith's controversial Dogma off Miramax's hands when Disney shied away from releasing it.

IFC Films, meanwhile, has built up quite a reputation for turning small indie flicks into big hits--like Y Tu Mama Tambien and a little something called My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

The Weinsteins have also indicated that they plan to bring aboard more "key industry players" as partners in the coalition, possibly--in what would be a none-too-subtle dig at Disney--media giant Viacom.