SYDNEY, July 19 AAP - Michael Moore's controversial documentary feature Fahrenheit 9/11 has broken box office records in Australia - and it hasn't even opened yet. Sneak previews of the hit documentary, which won the top prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival and has broken box office records in the US and UK, grossed $760,000 in Australian cinemas over the weekend. The previous record for the highest grossing weekend for a documentary was held by The Real Cancun, which took $562,000, and SuperSize Me, with $353,000. The documentary is a vitriolic assault on US President George W Bush over the September 11, 2001 attacks and the Iraq war. "Its incredible," Sydney's Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace general manager Paul Dravet said. "I am just so surprised by the diversity of the audience, from kids to older adults absolutely incredible. "We have had sold out sessions and queueing problems all weekend and every single session is getting rapturous applause." Fahrenheit 9/11 opens nationally on July 29, and until then sneak previews are limited to just two sessions daily each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The film's Australian distributor Troy Lum apologised to cinemagoers who missed out on seeing the feature over the weekend. "We were expecting a good result on the weekend but this is way above our expectations," Lum said. AAP
