WEINSTEINS ACQUIRE RIGHTS TO MOORE FLICK.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the chiefs of Miramax Film Corp., have acquired all rights to Michael Moore's controversial film ``Fahrenheit 9/11'' which The Walt Disney Co. had declined to distribute, Disney and Miramax announced Friday.

Following two weeks of negotiations with Disney, the Weinsteins have paid Disney-owned Miramax for all costs of the film (Miramax had spent about $6 million on the film) and will be responsible for any costs connected to the films' completion.

``It is a fair and equitable solution,'' Moore said in a statement Friday.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Weinsteins will also pay any marketing costs not covered by the film's distributors. They will secure distribution through third parties or can distribute the movie personally in certain markets.

``Documentaries are pretty low-cost productions so that's a drop in the bucket for the Weinstein brothers,'' said media analyst David Joyce of Guzman and Co.

The documentary, critical of President George W. Bush's handling of the terrorist attacks and their aftermath, earlier this month won the Palme d'Or, the highest award of the Cannes Film Festival. But Disney had blocked Miramax from distributing ``Fahrenheit,'' saying it is too politically charged in an election year.

Seeking to avoid the appearance of profiting in any way from a film it refused to distribute, Disney said Friday that any money made by Miramax or The Walt Disney Co. would be donated to charity.

``Announcing that they will put proceeds into charity is clearly a PR move by Disney, again trying to distance themselves from controversial matter of the film,'' Joyce said.

Technically, the film has been acquired by The Fellowship Adventure Group, a new special-purpose company created by the Weinsteins. They will arrange for worldwide distribution for the film in all distribution windows including theatrical and home entertainment.

The Weinsteins will continue to use the Wild Bunch, a Paris-based sales agent, to negotiate international distribution arrangements. Several international distribution deals have already been put into place by Wild Bunch.

The Weinstein brothers faced a similar situation five years ago with the film ``Dogma,'' director Kevin Smith's controversial religious satire. In that instance, Lions Gate Films picked up the movie for distribution. Moore, who won the Academy Award last year for his ``Bowling for Columbine'' documentary, said on his Web site this week that he is hoping for a July 4 weekend release of his film.

Moore has blasted Disney and its CEO, Michael D. Eisner, in interviews and on his Web site, which has created a storm of publicity for the film. Some industry observers believe the brouhaha will only help ticket sales once the film does hit theaters.

Box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co., said controversy helped propel Mel Gibson's religious drama ``The Passion of the Christ'' to nearly $370 million at the domestic box office to date.

``Controversy can spark big box office,'' Dergarabedian said. ``The amount of press devoted to this film has obviously placed it in the minds of so many moviegoers. There's going to be obviously more interest in this film than there would have been.''

Added Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo: ``Given that it is an election year, the people on the left will be galvanized behind this picture and probably some right-leaning people will go see it just so they can talk about it.''

The controversy over Moore's film comes at a time when the Weinsteins, the Miramax founders behind such films as ``Chicago,'' ``Cold Mountain'' and ``The Gangs of New York,`` are in talks to extend their current deal with Disney beyond 2005. They sold Miramax to Disney in 1993 and have had an often prickly relationship with Disney and Eisner.

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com