Politics plays at the box office

A steely blond senator, a cross between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bush advisor Karen Hughes, milks the post-9/11 climate of fear to further her Machiavellian ends. A vice-presidential hopeful attacks the erosion of civil liberties by an administration preaching “compassionate vigilance.” Body bags arrive from the Persian Gulf, where a Halliburton-like conglomerate with military contracts gives new meaning to the term “war profiteering.”

These aren’t snippets from headline news nor previews of this week’s Democratic National Convention. They’re plotlines from Jonathan Demme’s remake of “The Manchurian Candidate,” starring Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep and Liev Schreiber, opening nationwide in 2,800 theaters Friday, just a day after the convention closes.

The story of a soldier racing to uncover a brainwashing conspiracy aimed at capturing the White House, it’s just one of a spate of movies that have made this a summer awash with political resonance. Thus far, the most overtly political documentaries -- “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “Control Room” and “The Hunting of the President” -- have taken in about $105 million. “The Day After Tomorrow,” a global-warming thriller with a strong political sub-theme, pointedly skewers Vice President Dick Cheney and is the No. 5 movie this year with nearly $184 million. And there are more to come.

“Typically, you don’t see a lot of politics on the screen,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. “But everyone became more political after the 9/11 attacks. In the ongoing battle between left and right, films are being used as agents of change.”

Michael Moore’s Bush-bashing “Fahrenheit,” the highest-grossing feature-length documentary, penetrated the $100-million mark Saturday. Rolling out globally this month and next, it could take in as much abroad as at home, experts say, and is setting box office records in the U.K. and France, where Moore is a populist figure. Walt Disney Co.’s patriotic “America’s Heart & Soul,” which some conservative groups embraced as an antidote to Moore’s movie, has taken in about $400,000.

The films range from those with a clear political agenda to those that just take a shot or two. Harry Thomason’s documentary “The Hunting of the President,” which hit Los Angeles theaters over the weekend and has generated more than $120,000 since its gradual rollout in June, looks at a purported right-wing conspiracy to undermine the Clintons, while Spike Lee’s “She Hate Me,” which opens Wednesday, is a tale of pharmaceutical industry greed and ImClone/Enron-style insider trading.

The latter’s credits unfold against a backdrop of American currency -- concluding with a (“phony as a”) $3 bill, imprinted with George W.’s face. Even “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” a Will Farrell comedy about local TV news in the ‘70s, takes digs, informing the audience at the end of the film that the dimwitted weatherman with an ankle-high IQ went on to hold “a high-ranking position in the Bush administration.”

Politics is also scoring well on the DVD front, where Robert Greenwald’s “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism” has topped Amazon.com’s list since its July 13 release. The film, a scathing critique of the conservative Fox News, has exceeded Amazon sales for “Cold Mountain” and “The Simpsons -- The Complete Fourth Season” -- and pre-orders for Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” with its built-in evangelical following. Doing an end-run around the studios, Greenwald sold 35,000 units on his website and 25,000 through a commercial distributor without taking out an ad. His “Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War” sold more than 100,000 copies on the Web, and a full-length version will go into theaters in August.

“Organizations such as MoveOn.org and Rock the Vote are now able to get movies directly to the people,” Thomason said. “They have a mailing list of millions. Documentaries are becoming to the liberals what talk radio has been to the conservatives.”

Hollywood has generally subscribed to the dictum “If you want to send a message, use Western Union” rather than plastering one on-screen. Science fiction, animation, action-adventure and comedy do better commercially -- in part because most 12-to-18-year-olds, the most frequent moviegoers, aren’t traditionally news-oriented. Twentieth Century Fox ran from the global warming message in “The Day After Tomorrow.” And Sony Pictures Classics plays up the sexual angle in the “She Hate Me” trailer -- a fired whistle-blower who impregnates lesbians for profit -- rather than Lee’s social commentary.

Paramount Pictures Chief Operating Officer Rob Friedman maintains that the release date for “The Manchurian Candidate” was selected not because of the Democratic convention but because the “window” has been good for adult counter-programming. Despite what critics say, the movie takes aim at both sides of the aisle, he said.

“ ‘Manchurian’ is a thriller that happens to be set in the world of politics,” he said. “Each side comes away thinking it made their point -- it’s a Rorschach test in that way. Bush supporters look at the power-grabbing senator. Corporate influence is a bipartisan issue. While debate is a nice byproduct, people go to the movies to be entertained, not to take some medicine.”

If Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine,” with a $21.6-million gross, demonstrated that documentaries could be profitable, his “Fahrenheit 9/11” proved they could be blockbusters. Positive exposure to the genre may have benefited others such as “Control Room,” a look at the Arab news operation Al Jazeera that has grossed a healthy $1.7 million, box office insiders say. Upcoming releases include “Persons of Interest,” a provocative look at the detainment of Arab and Muslim immigrants in the U.S., which opens in August, and “The Oil Factor Behind the War on Terror,” due out in October. Two John F. Kerry-oriented documentaries, “Inside the Bubble” and “Tour of Duty,” will also hit the theaters this fall, as will “Silver City” -- a John Sayles comedy about a Bush-like candidate running for governor of Colorado. Distributed by red-hot Newmarket Films, which released “The Passion of the Christ,” it could also benefit from the political climate.

“After the success of these few, I expect more political movies down the road,” said Brandon Gray, head of the Internet firm boxofficemojo.com. “Hollywood is a reactive town and will ride that pony until it dies. After the election, however, there will be less fervor attached. It’s all about the stakes.”

Moore disagrees. Hollywood has its finger on the pulse of the American populace, he asserts -- and there’s a sea change afoot.

“Someone killed the apathy dog -- and Hollywood is taking notice,” Moore said. “Enlightened conservatives and moderates are no happier than the liberals, and the issues aren’t going away. Still, politics aside, you still need a good movie ... or you’ll only damage your cause.”