Bowling for Columbine
Documentarian Michael Moore sets out to expose the hidden forces fueling America’s pervasive gun violence, risking backlash as he confronts a nation’s mythic love of freedom with stark, unsettling truths.
“Are we a nation of gun nuts or are we just nuts?”
Synopsis
*This is not a film about gun control.* It is a film about the fearful heart and soul of the United States, and the 280 million Americans lucky enough to have the right to a constitutionally protected Uzi. From a look at the Columbine High School security camera tapes to the home of Oscar-winning NRA President Charlton Heston, from a young man who makes homemade napalm with *The Anarchist's Cookbook* to the murder of a six-year-old girl by another six-year-old. *Bowling for Columbine* is a journey through the U.S., through its past, hoping to discover why its pursuit of happiness is so riddled with violence.
Credits
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 189+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by Kurt EngfehrShot by Chris BellScored by Jeff GibbsSound by Joe Caterini
Box Office
2002 · Box office
💰 Box-office hit — grossed 8.9× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$35.6M
US & Canada: $21.6M — 61% of worldwide · International: $14.0M (39%)
Opening weekend: $209K — 1% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.
Opening week (7-day): $325K — 2% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 8 theaters
Also known as
- (French)Bowling à Columbine
- (English)Bowling for Columbine
- Bowling a Columbineit
Release dates around the world4 countries · showhide
- FranceMay 16, 2002
- United StatesAug 30, 2002
- CanadaSep 1, 2002
- SpainSep 1, 2002
Companies
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Cast & Crew
189 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Michael Moore
as Self - Narrator
Charlton Heston
as Self
Marilyn Manson
as Self
Salvador Allende
as Self - President of Chile
Mike Bradley
as Self - Mayor of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
Jacobo Arbenz
as Self - President of Guatemala
Arthur A Busch
as Self - County Prosecutor: Flint, Michigan
George H W Bush
as Self
George W Bush
as Self
Michael Caldwell
as Self - Police Detective
Richard Castaldo
as Self - Columbine Victim
Dick Clark
as Self
Supporting cast
71Bill Clinton
as Self
Steve Davis
as Self - Deputy Sheriff
Ngo Dinh Diem
as Self - President of South Vietnam
Mike Epstein
as Self - Shopper in Mall
Joe Farmer
as Self - Superintendent of Schools
Denny Fennell
as Self - Home Security Consultant
Barry Glassner
as Self - Author of 'The Culture of Fear
Dick Herlan
as Self - Former Producer of 'Cops
Jeremy Hix
as Self - Suspended for Wearing Kilt
Ernest F Hollings
as Self
Jimmie Hughes
as Self - Principal of Buell Elementary School
Saddam Hussein
as Self
Emir Of Kuwait
as Self
Amanda Lamante
as Self - Columbine Student
Mary Lorenz
as Self - K-Mart Official
Daniel Mauser
as Self
Tom Mauser
as Self - Father of Victim
Evan Mccollum
as Self - Lockheed Martin Public Relations
Timothy Mcveigh
as Self - Oklahoma City Bomber
Carey Mcwilliams
as Self - Blind Gun Owner
Mohammed Mossadegh
as Self - Prime Minister of Iran
James Nichols
as Self - Brother of Terry Nichols
Terry Nichols
as Self - Oklahoma City Bombing Accomplice
Manuel Antonio Noriega
as Self - President of Panama
Tamarla Owens
as Self
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
as Self - Shah of Iran
Trey Parker Nm0005295
as Self
Robert J Pickell
as Self - Sheriff of Flint, Michigan
Augusto Pinochet
as Self - Chilean Dictator
Jeff Rossen
as Self - Fox Reporter
Nicole Schlief
as Self - Columbine Student
Susan Smith
as Self
Matt Stone
as Self
Mark Taylor
as Self - Columbine Victim
Damian W Williams
as Self - Rioter Assaulting Reginald Denny
Denise Ames
as Self - Sexy Girl with Gun
John Ashcroft
as Self
Emma Bunton
as Self
King Charles Iii
as Self
Dick Cheney
as Self
Aline Chretien
as Self
Jean Chretien
as Self
Reginald Denny
as Self - Truck Driver Assaulted During LA Riots
Byron Dorgan
as Self
Jeff Doucet
as Self - Man Shot at Airport
R Budd Dwyer
as Self - Televised Suicide
Leon Errol
as Self - Actor in Movie Clip
Mike Fasolo
as Self - Corporate Criminal
Sarah Ferguson
as Self
Carla Gallo
as Self
Eric Harris
as Self
John Harris
as Self
Heinrich Himmler
as Self
Adolf Hitler
as Self
Rob Huebel
as Self - Corporate Criminal
Brandon T Jackson
as Self
Daniel V Jones
as Self - Televised Shotgun Suicide
John Kerry
as Self
Dylan Klebold
as Self
Joe Lieberman
as Self
Dennis Morgan
as Self - Actor in Movie Clip
Harold Moss
as Self - Character in 'A Brief History of the United States of America
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor
as Self
Maritza Martin Munoz
as Self - Woman Murdered by Ex-Husband on Spanish TV Show 'Ocurrio Asi
Oliver North
as Self
Emilio Nunez
as Self - Man Who Murdered Ex-Wife on Spanish TV Show 'Ocurrio Asi
Gary Plauche
as Self - Shooting Jeff Doucett
Pat Robertson
as Self
Chris Rock
as Self
Donald Rumsfeld
as Self
Jessica Savitch
as Self
Directors
1Writers
2Producers
15Charles Bishop
Producer, Producers
Charlie Siskel
field producer
Chris Aldred
field producer
Gillian Aldrich
field producer
Jeff Gibbs
field producer
Jim Czarnecki
Producer, Producers
Kathleen Glynn
Producer
Kurt Engfehr
co-producer
Meghan O Hara
field producer
Michael Donovan
Producer, Producers
Michael Moore
producer
Rehya Young
coordinating producer
Siobhan Oldham
line producer
Tia Lessin Nm0504357
supervising producer
Wolfram Tichy
executive producer
Other crew
98Chris Bell
additional camera operator
Craig Hymson
additional camera operator, production assistant
Edward C Kukla
additional camera operator
Gregg Easterbrook
additional camera operator (uncredited)
Mike Casey
additional camera operator
Mike Desjarlais
additional camera operator (as Michael Desjarlais)
Jon Budine
additional on-line editor
Brian Foley
additional sound
Elizabeth Marcus
additional sound editor
Tom Lino
animation sound: FlickerLab
Aneurin Wright
animator: FlickerLab
David Concepcion
animator: FlickerLab
Parents Guide
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