Al Gore’s sequel to his Academy Award-winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth was scheduled to hit theatres in the US on July 28, but some major news dropped this week that you may have heard about. Now, an early cut will screen in the US for free next week and the decision for America to drop out of the Paris Accord will be added to the film.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2017/06/the-paris-agreement-is-not-an-anti-american-conspiracy/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/ozg2mic1ndcratqbzkhm.png” title=”The Paris Agreement Is Not An Anti-American Conspiracy” excerpt=”Yesterday, President Trump announced the US was withdrawing from the landmark Paris Agreement, a commitment between 195 countries to tackle climate change. Outrage was swift and uncompromising. The secretary-general for the United Nations called the move “a major disappointment”, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk resigned from his advisory position at the White House in protest, and former Mexican president Vicente Fox Quesada tweeted withdrawal marked the moment the “United States… stopped being the leader of the free world”.”]
Anyone speculating on potential box office for An Inconvenient Sequel before the November US election would probably have guessed that it wouldn’t make the surprise $US49.8 ($67) million that its predecessor managed. The original film represented a sea change moment in America when sceptics of climate change started coming around. Since then, only the hardest of hardliners deny that humans are causing climate change.
Even Donald Trump, a man who has no shame, is now unwilling to say whether or not he believes in climate change. He has said on numerous occasions that he believes it’s a hoax, and he proved his feelings this week when he decided to ignore America’s commitment to the Paris Accord. It’s probably safe to say, there will be a lot of people with renewed interest in seeing this sequel.
An Inconvenient Sequel follows all of the progress and setbacks that have occurred in the 11 years since the original. It shows the growing impact that climate change is having on the world, as well as the huge strides we’re making in renewable energy. One major subplot involves the signing of the Paris Accord by all but two nations in the world. Now that the US will join Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries living in a fantasy land, the film needs a little bit of reworking.
The July 28 release has been pushed back to August 4th. Following Trump’s announcement on Thursday, Al Gore had this to say in a statement:
Removing the United States from the Paris Agreement is a reckless and indefensible action. It undermines America’s standing in the world and threatens to damage humanity’s ability to solve the climate crisis in time. But make no mistake: if President Trump won’t lead, the American people will.
Civic leaders, mayors, governors, CEOs, investors and the majority of the business community will take up this challenge. We are in the middle of a clean energy revolution that no single person or group can stop. President Trump’s decision is profoundly in conflict with what the majority of Americans want from our president; but no matter what he does, we will ensure that our inevitable transition to a clean energy economy continues.