By Kate Fiegen - Iowa City Press-Citizen: Local moviegoers who are itching to see Michael Moore's new documentary "Sicko" will either have to travel to neighboring counties or wait a few more weeks, officials said Monday.

Sycamore 12 in Iowa City and the Coral Ridge 10 in Coralville, both Marcus Theatres, might start screening the movie within the next two weeks, company spokesman Carlo Petrick said.

The film offers a scathing look at health care in the United States by telling the stories of those who have been slighted by the system to taking a tour of countries that have universal health care systems. Moore also did the controversial documentaries "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Bowling for Columbine."

"Sicko" is playing in just one Marcus theater, in Madison, Wis., Petrick said, because the film's production company, Weinstein Co., wanted a limited release.

"'Sicko is currently playing on about 650 screens. In comparison, new major releases such as 'Spiderman 3,' can play on 4,000 or more screens," he said. "Marcus Theatres' primary business is to show films with broad commercial appeal."

Petrick said Marcus, which owns or operates 500 screens in the Midwest, will focus right now on larger blockbusters such as "Transformers," "Ratatouille" and "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."

"When additional prints become available and when we have play time available, we anticipate that Marcus Theatres will play 'Sicko,' just as we've played other Michael Moore films," he said.

Local theater managers said they have taken a few phone calls about the movie's release, but not many.

"Well, it's still in limited release," said Brian Abney, one of the managers at the Sycamore 12.

According to the film's Web site, www.sicko-themovie.com, the documentary opened June 29 in 440 theaters across the country. Last week, the film opened in about 300 more.

Some people say the film has been timed to further health care discussions in the 2008 presidential races. Iowa for Health Care spokesman Andrew Mertens said representatives from his group went to the film's opening in Des Moines to convince attendees to support the campaign's cause.

The non-partisan, grassroots project, based in Coralville, is pushing for presidential candidates to announce health care plans by Aug. 1. The campaign is a project of SEIU, a health care worker's union with a chapter in Iowa City.

"We are not endorsing the content of the film, but we are pleased the issue is getting such an enormous amount of attention," Mertens said.

When the film opens in Iowa City and Coralville, Mertens said Iowa for Health Care representatives will be outside theaters signing people up to vote with health care in mind.

"We'll be out there in full force," he said.