Oscar winner Michael Moore's latest documentary feature, which explores the root causes of the global economic meltdown, will be released domestically on Oct. 2, it was announced Thursday.
The as-yet untitled film takes "a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans" that culminated in the massive transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to private financial institutions, according to distributors Overture Films and Paramount Vintage.
"The wealthy, at some point, decided they didn't have enough wealth. They wanted more -- a lot more -- so they systematically set about to fleece the American people out of their hard-earned money," Moore said. "Now, why would they do this? That is what I seek to discover in this movie."
The project marks Moore's return to the issue that began his career -- and resulted in the release 20 years ago of "Roger & Me" -- the impact of corporate dominance and out-of-control profit motives.
Moore's new documentary, his first since 2007's "Sicko," was first announced by Overture and Paramount Vantage International in May 2008 at the Cannes Film Festival, and production began shortly afterward.
Chris McGurk and Danny Rosett, Overture's chief executive officer and chief operating officer, respectively, previously worked with Moore when they oversaw the release of "Bowling for Columbine" at MGM/United Artists.
"Everyone can relate to this subject matter and all have been affected," they said in a joint statement. "We think there should be plenty of people interested in hearing Michael's take on how exactly we got here and what we can do to move forward."
The film will be released a year and a day after the U.S. Senate's $700 billion Wall Street bailout vote.
