When Ray Bradbury, author of the classic science fiction novel "Fahrenheit 451," learned of the title to Michael Moore's new film, he demanded an apology and asked the Moore rename "Fahrenheit 9/11."
Bradbury told a Swedish journalist that Moore is a "dreadful" and "dishonest" man and said that in his mind Moore plagiarized the title. Bradbury said his fury "has nothing to do with my political views."
Fahrenheit 451 portrays an futuristic society in which firemen burn homes and libraries to destroy the books inside and keep people from thinking independently.
Joanne Doroshow, a spokeswoman for "Fahrenheit 9/11," said the film's makers have "the utmost respect for Ray Bradbury."
"Mr. Bradbury's work has been an inspiration to all of us involved in this film, but when you watch this film you will see the fact that the title reflects the facts that the movie explores, the very real life events before, around and after 9/11," she said.
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In its opening weekend Fahrenheit topped the box office, taking $8.2 million. It opened in only 868 cinemas nationwide. For comparison, the much-hyped movie White Chicks, which opened at the same time but in a total of 2726 cinemas, took $6.7m.