During the 2000’s, the filmmaker Michael Moore made several different documentaries that would go on to become some of the most critically and commercially successful documentaries of all time. His work commented on issues such as health care, capitalism, and various United States presidents. Americans today easily live in a more politically charged environment than has been the case in more recent years. However, Moore’s documentaries don’t seem to make headlines like they used to. What happened to him? In this article, I’ll be talking about how Michael Moore was able to become a success in filmmaking, while also making sure to provide his fans with an update regarding his more recent exploits in politics and in his work.
Michael Moore’s Early Life and Career
Moore began to make a real name for himself in the years to follow. First, he founded the alternative magazine The Flint Voice, which would eventually become The Michigan Voice as it became more popular. Michael was able to obtain a position writing for Mother Jones, a progressive political magazine based out of San Francisco. He ended up having to move to California to take the job, which unfortunately mean that The Michigan Voice was shut down. Moore was only able to work for the publication for four months until he was fired, because he refused to print an article that he considered to be inaccurate. Michael maintained, however, that he was actually fired because he was stirring up too much trouble within the magazine by pushing for stories that they didn’t consider to be important. He ended up taking Mother Jones to court, and he would use the settlement money to kick start his career in documentary filmmaking.
Moore released his debut documentary Roger & Me in 1989. The documentary was a major success on every level, which was very impressive when you consider the fact that it was his film debut. The documentary covered how domestic General Motors factories closing affected the people who used to work for them. Interestingly enough, this was the exact story that Moore claimed that Mother Jones would not let him write. It was a strong debut, and the documentary community applauded his efforts. His next major documentary, The Big One, was released in 1997. This time, Michael was taking on major corporation for outsourcing work overseas and thus leaving many Americans without work. This movie was not quite as successful as his first, but in 2002, he would release a film that saw a massive amount of critical and commercial success.
Michael Moore in the 2000’s
Moore got right back into it in 2004, with the release of Farenheit 9/11. This film’s subject matter was considerably more controversial, since it criticized both George W. Bush and corporate media. The film debuted at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival in May, and it released to the American public in June. When it aired at the festival, the documentary received a 20-minute long standing ovation, which as you can imagine, was significant. Farenheit 9/11 was deeply controversial upon its release, but this controversy only helped to fuel its commercial success. The documentary ended up making over $222 million at box office, which makes it the uncontested highest grossing documentary of all time. I think that it’s definitely safe to say that, with this release, Michael Moore had cemented his legacy as an American filmmaking titan. Even more interesting is the fact that he didn’t stop there.
In the years to follow, Moore would create even more documentaries. After Farenheit 9/11, he released Sicko, a movie about health care in the United States. Although this movie obviously was not as successful as his previous film, it still did really well for a documentary. Sicko made over $36 million at box office on a $9 million budget, and it is also considered to be a fine release for this filmmaker. In that same year, Moore released Slacker Uprising online completely for free. In 2009, he released Capitalism: a Love Story, which as you can probably infer from the title, criticized the American economy. Although this film was not quite as successful as his previous (partially due to him working with a large $20 million budget) it still received positive reviews from critics. In 2015, Moore came out with Where to Invade Next, a documentary styled as a traveling log almost, with Moore visiting other countries and seeing how they deal with conflicts that Americans struggle with today.
What’s Michael Moore Doing Now in 2018 – Recent Updates

Although you may not have been hearing about it, Michael Moore has kept himself very busy over the course of the last couple of years. IN 2015, he announced his support for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic Primaries. However, when Bernie ended up losing to Hilary Clinton, Moore shifted his allegiances accordingly. In a move that was considered controversial at the time, Michael Moore actually accurately predicted that Donald Trump would win the election. In 2016, he released the documentary Michael Moore in TrumpLand, which was kind of a one-person show that he put on in Ohio.
Obviously, this release was not a very big ordeal, and it actually received some mixed reviews from critics due to its strange presentation. More recently, Moore has made headlines by urging liberal protesters to put up a major fight in combating the future policies of President-Elect Donald Trump. His movies may not be as commercially successful as they used to be, but make no mistake. This documentary filmmaker is just as politically and socially active as he has always been.