Reply #21: Sorry, Kids, No Buying This One...The Movie's Coming Out

[KharmaTrain]

The bottom line IS the bottom line. Eisner knows money when it rears its mouseears, and he knows that a controversy works good, too (witness Mel Gibson). He knows that Moore's last movie made a lot of money (even moreso cause it doesn't cost anywhere near what a Cameron would want), is coming off a national best seller and is a walking PR unit. This sure sounds like a build-up to me.

If Disney were that dead-set against the movie, Moore would have gone stomping out or found another studio to work with. Remember, it was ABC, also owned by Disney that stood up to Sinclair last week and has been more liberal in its worldview than not.

The closing lines on Moore's letter...if I have anything to say about it, you'll see it this summer -- sure doesn't sound like the words of a man whose film is about to visit a secret vault. He's got many option other than Disney...including television, independent theaters and the internet that can create a "groundswell" to force Disney into national distribution (Eisner finally crawling on his knees to ask Moore's forgiveness).

While I like Michael Moore and his past works...and consider them mustsee for kids of teenage years...I also have seen his showmanship at work many times and this has "staged" written all over it. This gets him on the talk shows, newspapers...starts tongues wagging, so that when it is finally released it's a weekend "killer" making both Mr. Moore and Mr. Eisner a bit richer than they would have without this "controversy". Nope, seems a little too calculated to me.