Michael Moore's 'Sicko' Will Hit on June 29

Whether you love him or hate him (or as I do, love him and hate him), you're probably looking forward to Michael Moore's next film. Even if you have no intention of seeing it, you can't wait to be vocal about why not. Of course, not all the haters will be avoiding the film; Moore, unlike any other despised filmmaker, has a way of still attracting his critics to the theater. Well, you lovers and haters don't have much longer to wait, because The Weinstein Co. has just announced a June 29 release for Moore's latest, the health care system expose Sicko.

For those of you wondering if Moore could possibly top his successes with Bowling for Columbine (the Oscar-winner) and Fahrenheit 9/11 (the Cannes winner and the box office winner), it turns out that Sicko could be successful in a new way. According to Harvey Weinstein, the doc will unify Republicans and Democrats. He claims to have seen the film with members of both parties, and all viewers have been in agreement in disapproving of the U.S. health care industry, as it is depicted by Moore. However, the problem with the film being less controversial, and to many Americans, possibly less interesting, is that it might be a hard sell to audiences who might rather spend their weekend happier, with Pixar's Ratatouille, or who might even hold out five days and see Transformers instead.

Similar to what the Weinsteins did with Fahrenheit 9/11, the new documentary will be distributed domestically by Lionsgate. The difference is that with the previous film, the partnership was somewhat forced by Disney -- which owns Miramax, which was at the time run by the Weinsteins -- because Disney didn't want to be associated with the Bush-bashing doc. Now that the brothers have TWC, they don't have such an obligation, but the union was still beneficial to them this time around because of a doc distribution deal Lionsgate has with Showtime. While Lionsgate books Sicko in theaters in the U.S., TWC will distribute internationally and will take care of marketing costs.