White Chicks, ' Moore in Spotlight at Box Office

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The box office is a study in contrasts this weekend, with Sony Pictures' cross-dressing comedy ``White Chicks'' going up against Michael Moore's media frenzy of a documentary ``Fahrenheit 9/11'' in the final frame before ``Spider-Man 2'' takes over.
Produced by Revolution Studios, ``Chicks'' has received a lot of positive publicity, including a ringing endorsement from Oprah Winfrey. Its take could reach into the low-$20 millions for the three-day frame. The Wayans brothers' previous stunts -- highlighted by ``Scary Movie'' and ``Scary Movie 2,'' which opened to $42.3 million and $20.5 million, respectively -- have had major crossover appeal, playing to a broad demographic. This comedy, in which Shawn and Marlon Wayans play disgraced FBI agents who must go undercover as white heiresses to foil a kidnapping plot -- has the potential to be just as successful.


But the most-watched performance of the weekend will surely be Moore's controversial documentary ``Fahrenheit,'' for which Lions Gate Films is handling most of the distribution chores in partnership with IFC Films and Bob and Harvey Weinstein's Fellowship Adventure Group. The amount of hoopla surrounding the Palme d'Or-winning film, which takes a critical look at President Bush's handling of the fight against terrorism and war in Iraq war, mirrors that of a wide release, with political action committees summoning their troops to either see or boycott the R-rated film. Moore's grass-roots marketing machine has made a tremendous amount of noise as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-film-boxoffice.html