Cuomo to seek PG-13 rating for 'Fahrenheit 9/11'
Says he wants widest possible audience for Moore film
(CNN) -- Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo announced Tuesday that he will be fighting to get the widest available audience for Michael Moore's movie "Fahrenheit 9/11."
The film is critical of the Bush administration's response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
"I am personally committed, as well as many other Americans, to do everything I possibly can to be sure that as many Americans as possible get to see this extraordinary film," Cuomo told reporters at a news conference in Manhattan.
Cuomo is also profesionally committed. He has been hired by Lions Gate Films and IFC Films to champion the film. The distributors want him to ask the Motion Picture Association of America for a PG-13 rating, down from its current R rating.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" originally was to be distributed by Disney's Miramax Films, but Moore had to find new distributors after Disney refused to let Miramax release it, saying it was too politically charged.
The film links President Bush with powerful Saudi families, including that of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
It also includes pictures of Iraqi prisoners being abused, as well as images of dead Iraqi babies and children burned by napalm, along with maimed and injured U.S. soldiers.
The film takes its title from Ray Bradbury's novel "Fahrenheit 451," which refers to the temperature of burning books in a distopian society. Moore calls "Fahrenheit 9/11" the "temperature at which freedom burns."
A conservative organization called Move America Forward, formed in May to rally support for U.S. troops and the war on terror, has mounted a protest against the film. The group is asking the public to call and e-mail executives at theater chains scheduled to show the film, according to Variety.com.
The movie took top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" is scheduled to be released June 25 in 500 to 1,000 theaters nationwide.
In 2002, Moore won an Academy Award for his documentary "Bowling for Columbine."
