Sarah Palin Documentary The Undefeated Gets Distribution Deal

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Politics and film make for strange bedfellows. Farenheit 9/11 turned out audiences en masse like no other documentary has before, or since, and now Stephen K. Bannon is hoping to repeat that sort of success with The Undefeated. His subject: former Alaskan governor and political lightning rod Sarah Palin.

Announced via press release, The Undefeated is coming to theatres in a limited release on July 15, 2011 exclusively at AMC theatres.

The Undefeated, a misleading title considering Palin was on the losing side of the most recent Presidential election, chronicles her rise from obscurity to the Vice Presidential slot behind John McCain. The film includes leading prominent political commentators Mark Levin, Tammy Bruce and Andrew Breitbart as well as conservative activists Kate Obenshein, Sonnie Johnson and Jamie Radtke. Additionally, the film features interviews with Alaskan civil servants, elected officials and advisors who were involved in Alaskan politics during Governor Palin’s tenure.

What does this mean? Political documentaries, especially ones that border on propaganda like this one, are an extremely tough sell to audiences no matter what. Moore’s film managed to hit lightning in a bottle but he hasn’t found anywhere near the success since then, nor has any other documentarian.

Will audiences come out to see this? I don’t know. Political films, no matter how well promoted, die fairly quickly at the box office. I was one of the few who adored Atlas Shrugged but even that didn’t do well at the box office. It’s a wise move to go with a platform release in markets that have a strong chance of selling tickets but this is a curious move from AMC.

What do you think? Is a film about Palin something you want to see in theatres? Let us know what you think below.