‘9/11’ Heading to Theaters

Michael Moore’s documentary, “Fahrenheit 9/11,” will open in about 1,000 U.S. theaters June 25, and a trailer promoting the expedited release could hit the Internet by the end of this week.

Lions Gate Films and IFC Films announced Tuesday that they would join efforts to release the movie, whose distribution plans were held up by a dispute between Miramax Films and its parent, Walt Disney Co.

On Friday, Disney struck a deal with Miramax founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein allowing them to purchase “Fahrenheit 9/11” from Miramax, which financed the film. Disney told Miramax last year that it would not allow its subsidiary to distribute the documentary, which denounces President Bush’s handling of terrorism and the Iraq war.

The film, which recently won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, will be shown on pay television’s Showtime, a division of Viacom Inc. Home video rights have not been announced.

Representatives of Lions Gate, which distributed two other films (“Dogma” and “O”) that Miramax was forced to drop, and IFC, the distributor of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” are scheduled to meet with the Weinsteins in New York today to plan a marketing campaign.

-- John Horn