Love him or hate him, one thing we can all agree is everything Michael Moore touches turns to controversy. And his upcoming film 'Sicko', a documentary that puts the American health care system under the microscope, has already attracted some negative attention from people in high places. All this despite no-one has even seen the film except for Moore and his compadre's.

According to producer Harvey Weinstein, the US Government is trying to seize the film. This has put Moore and Co in an unwanted situation, leading to some drastic measures.

"The lawyers are telling us that we have to take some precautions immediately to protect the film. So we had to create a digital master copy and have it shipped out of the country so that if anything was seized, at least we'd have the master to make a negative from."

According to some reports, the Treasury Department informed Moore they are conducting an investigation to determine is he is guilty of unlicensed travel to Cuba. Moore laughed:

"I just want to enjoy the next five days reading about how I wanted to go to Cuba to show off their health care system. I think people are going to have to do a serious rewrite after" (the first screening in Cannes).

Weinstein in convinced this action has a political agenda. He has hit back by hiring his own Lawyer, and have requested (under the US freedom of information act ) an explanation as to what motivated the Treasury to start an investigation.

"They have to tell us why they did it and what they did...And they are not too happy about it."

'Sicko' is Moore's first film since the 2004 Palme d'Or Cannes Film festival winning Fahrenheit 9/11, and is expected to rollout on the 29th of June 2007.

Sources:

• 'Sicko' the Controversy: MichaelMoore.com
• Weinsteins set 'SiCKO' release date: MichaelMore.com
• US government trying to seize new Michael Moore film, says producer: The Guardian

Links:

• : Youtube video
• : Youtube video
• Production stills: CommingSoon.net