Trump Derangement Syndrome is flourishing on the bestseller lists – Bob Woodward’s Fear, anyone – but not so much on the silver screen:

Unless traffic picks up, Fahrenheit 11/9  is headed for an eighth-place finish with $3 million-debut from 1,719 theaters (pre-release tracking had suggested at least $5 million-$6 million). One bright spot: Audiences gave it an A CinemaScore.

Moore’s satirical, anti-Trump film marks the first release from Tom Ortenberg’s new company, Briarcliff. (Ortenberg worked with Moore on Fahrenheit 9/11 while stationed at Lionsgate.) It earned just north of $1 million on Friday.

In 2004, Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 debuted to a record-breaking $23.9 million from 868 locations. Otherwise, his films, similar to other political or specialized docs, have launched first in select theaters before expanding their footprint in order to capitalize on word of mouth.

A few days prior, Moore was fantasising about being a political refugee:

If things go awry for Michael Moore following the release of his latest politically charged documentary, the progressive provocateur says he has a plan to escape potential persecution in the U.S.: He’s moving to Canada.

It’s a pronouncement so common among aggrieved American liberals that it borders on a political trope. But Moore says he’s serious about his plot to vacate the U.S., and not only because of his long-standing affinity for Canada.

For Moore, the prospect of becoming a political refugee seems starkly plausible under the leadership of U.S. President Donald Trump, whom he portrays as a geopolitical threat in Fahrenheit 11/9, set to hit theatres Friday.

“(Trump) absolutely hates democracy, and he believes in the autocrat, in the authoritarian,” Moore said in a recent interview at the Toronto International Film Festival, where the film premiered earlier this month.

“I want us to survive this, but I can’t make any guarantees that that’s what’s going to happen. We’re in a bad place. We’re on the precipice of some very awful stuff.”

Trust me, Michael: obesity will kill you before Trump does. But by all means, maintain your delusion of importance in the fantasy world you made of Nazi America.

I’m pretty sure that Trump doesn’t give a shit about you — and by the looks of it neither do the moviegoers. Better move to Canada anyway to be near the supply of those Coffee Crisp chocolate bars.

And have you thought why you should even expect the woke to listen to an old white male? Check your privilege, Michael. Check your privilege.

Arthur Chrenkoff blogs at The Daily Chrenk, where this piece also appears.

Illustration: Scott Rudin Productions/Braniff Productions.

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