The final count Monday was $2.1 million higher than “Fahrenheit 9/11” distributors had estimated a day earlier.
Including its gross from two New York City theaters where the movie opened Wednesday, two days earlier than in the rest of the country, “Fahrenheit 9/11” had taken in $24.1 million.
That made “Fahrenheit 9/11” the top-grossing documentary ever, aside from concert films and movies made for huge-screen IMAX theaters. It took the previous record-holder, Moore’s Academy Award-winning “Bowling for Columbine,” nine months to amass its $21.6 million take.
An assault on President Bush’s actions regarding the Sept. 11 attacks, “Fahrenheit 9/11” won the top prize at May’s Cannes Film Festival.
Moore said he did not know whether the film would affect the outcome of the November presidential election but that he hoped it would encourage more people to head to the polls.
“It’s not about changing anyone’s mind, are you for Bush or against Bush,” Moore said. “I think one of the very positive impacts of this movie is going to be convincing people to vote.”
The top 20 movies at North American theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. and Nielsen EDI Inc. are:
1. “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Lions Gate-IFC, $23,920,637, 868 locations, $27,558 average, $24,078,959, one week.
2. “White Chicks,” Sony, $19,676,748, 2,726 locations, $7,218 average, $27,180,139, one week.
3. “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” Fox, $18,787,419, 3,020 locations, $6,221 average, $67,458,145, two weeks.
4. “The Notebook,” New Line, $13,464,745, 2,303 locations, $5,847 average, $13,464,745, one week.
5. “The Terminal,” DreamWorks, $13,135,148, 2,914 locations, $4,508 average, $41,040,124, two weeks.
6. “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” Warner Bros., $11,247,412, 3,404 locations, $3,304 average, $211,537,548, four weeks.
7. “Shrek 2,” DreamWorks, $10,216,452, 2,937 locations, $3,479 average, $396,782,535, six weeks.
8. “Garfield: The Movie,” Fox, $7,526,987, 2,880 locations, $2,614 average, $56,297,265, three weeks.
9. “Two Brothers,” Universal, $6,144,160, 2,175 locations, $2,825 average, $6,144,160, one week.
10. “The Stepford Wives,” Paramount, $5,056,343, 2,437 locations, $2,075 average, $48,861,783, three weeks.
11. “The Day After Tomorrow,” Fox, $4,755,505, 2,212 locations, $2,150 average, $175,626,913, five weeks.
12. “The Chronicles of Riddick,” Universal, $4,531,765, 2,435 locations, $1,861 average, $51,151,705, three weeks.
13. “Around the World in 80 Days,” Disney, $4,274,941, 2,801 locations, $1,526 average, $18,281,896, two weeks.
14. “Troy,” Warner Bros., $957,313, 711 locations, $1,346 average, $130,906,716, seven weeks.
15. “Saved!”, United Artists, $565,151, 456 locations, $1,239 average, $7,932,238, five weeks.
16. “Napoleon Dynamite,” Fox Searchlight, $388,112, 73 locations, $5,317 average, $953,215, three weeks.
17. “Super Size Me,” Roadside, $383,178, 190 locations, $2,017 average, $9,512,152, eight weeks.
18. “Raising Helen,” Disney, $359,663, 409 locations, $879 average, $35,836,206, five weeks.
19. “Van Helsing,” Universal, $294,840, 351 locations, $840 average, $118,559,420, eight weeks.
20. “NASCAR: The IMAX Experience,” Warner Bros., $267,702, 52 locations, $5,148 average, $13,982,427, 16 weeks.
