So, how did Sicko do at the box office in its opening weekend? It premiered in 441 theaters and grossed $4.5 million, for an average theater gross of about $10,200. That was good enough for 9th place.
Of course, it is difficult to judge a Michael Moore film. On the one hand, it’s a documentary and documentaries, on average, never do as well at the box office as other movies. When viewed from that perspective, $4.5 million is a strong opening.
On the other hand, it is a Michael Moore film with all of the attendant hype and promotion. His previous film Fahrenheit 9/11 premiered in 868 theaters in its opening weekend and grossed $23.9 million, for an average theater gross of about $27,560. Relative to his last film, Sicko is a bit of a dud.
My rough guess is Sicko will gross about $30 million in the U.S. Impressive for a documentary, but not that great compared to Fahrenheit and given all of the PR Moore has generated for the film.
Looks like America’s appetite for a documentary about health care is, well, not all that healthy.
