Producers: Bin Laden movie not pro-Obama

The makers of a movie on the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden -- and which airs two days before the election -- say it is not an endorsement of President Obama.

"I think the end titles run longer than Obama's time on screen," said David Lyle, CEO of National Geographic Channels.

The New York Times reported that a copy of the film it received showed it had been re-cut to strengthen Obama's role; Lyle said there is now actually less footage of Obama, and scoffed at the notion that the film would somehow affect the Nov. 6 election.

"People that haven't seen the movie have decided that it's a political event," Lyle said. "Believe me, in 85 million homes, a movie from National Geographic is not going to change the outcome of the election in a country of 300 million."

The film SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden premieres Nov. 4 on the National Geographic Channel.

Conservatives have also noted that the film is backed by Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, a major Obama backer.

Brent Bozell, president of the conservative Media Research Center, said, "we don't want to pass judgement on the content, because we haven't watched the film -- but timing is what matters."

He added: "If the National Geographic Channel puts off airing this documentary by just three days, and there's absolutely no reason why they can't, it shows they have no agenda. If they don't postpone it by just 72 hours, it will clearly show that they do."

From the Associated Press:

"Produced by Weinstein and National Geographic, the 90-minute film depicts the mission that took down bin Laden. It mixes interviews with flashbacks and archival footage that leads the famed SEAL Team Six squad to a fortified compound where a mysterious 6-foot-5-inch bearded figure was believed to be staying.

"It's the first original film to come out of the National Geographic Channel, which has about 85 million viewers, and it's slotted to come out a few weeks before Zero Dark Thirty, another film about the raid by Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow.

"Freddy Rodriguez, who plays a Navy SEAL in "SEAL Team Six," said there was no political agenda behind the film.

"'I think people who are in the opposing party are going to say that, of course. It's bound to happen because it fell on Obama's watch. And there's footage of him in the film, so how could people not have that criticism? It's almost expected,' Rodriguez said."