Morgan Spurlock has revealed how he fought to get his sequel to the award-winning “Super Size Me” released.
The documentary maker made “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!” three years ago, which looks at the troubled state of chicken farming in the USA — and follows him as he sets out to start up his own fast food shop.
However, it was only released Friday in theaters and on-demand; Spurlock says film companies didn’t want to distribute his new movie after he admitted to “past indiscretions” in a 2017 Twitter post.
And talking to Page Six, Spurlock, who has now been sober for more than 600 days, said: “I knew the movie had to come out for the farmers we worked with. It’s been a long road, and a difficult 19 months.”
“No one wanted to release the film. I called dozens of distributors. Finally, I went to Peter Goldwyn, who’s been a good friend for a long time, and he said ‘people have got to see this film.’ He was excited to put it out — and that made me happy.”
Spurlock has now set up his own pop-up shop in NYC called Holy Chicken! where sandwiches are made from carefully and organically raised chickens. The entire shop — open until September 22 — explores the way we delude ourselves in the pursuit of “healthy fast food” — down to the interior design and marketing spin.
Spurlock worked with Jonathan and Zack Buttram, two Alabama chicken farmers whose family farm hasn’t turned a profit in three years, the result of being blackballed for speaking out against the ‘Big Chicken’ industry.
Spurlock plans on launching a chain of permanent Holy Chicken! restaurants around the country with the goal of standing out from the rest of the industry by being honest about how its food is grown and sold.
He says he already has a commitment from investors for a location in Washington D.C. And he’s in talks with a network about a spin-off series which would follow him as he sets up a franchise, saying: “The idea that farmers would have a job outside Big Chicken is inspiring to me.”