Theater manager Bill Emerson said he's been told that his is the only theater in Montana screening the movie the first week it hits public screens.
"We're just really excited," said Emerson.
First, Miramax and its parent company, Disney, refused to distribute the movie, which led to claims from Moore that Disney was afraid of angering Gov. Jeb Bush in Florida, home of Disneyworld.
Then came the Cannes Film Festival, where "Fahrenheit" was a hit. It won the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, the first documentary to win since Jacques Cousteau's "The Silent World" in 1956.
Meanwhile, political fights have created their own headlines, with the conservative Move America Forward (MoveAmericaForward.org) starting a letter-writing campaign against the movie to theaters, and the liberal Web site MoveOn.org encouraging a letter-writing counterattack and urging viewers to fill theaters on opening night to show support for Moore and
his message.
In recent weeks, new "Fahrenheit" distributors Lions Gate Films and Fellowship Adventure Group began a marketing campaign unprecedented for a documentary. They plan to spend $10 million on marketing - "peanuts compared with the $40 million marketing budgets of Hollywood blockbusters, but a record for a documentary and nearly double 'Fahrenheit's' $6 million cost," according to USA Today.
Emerson said he's heard nothing about protests planned for the Missoula opening.
"We don't make 'em," he said of the movies aired at the Wilma. "We just show 'em."
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