The footage of President Franklin D. Roosevelt proposing a "Second Bill of Rights" was believed to be lost until Michael Moore's film crew rediscovered it in a South Carolina library in 2008.
Michael Moore held the Detroit premiere in the movie theater located in the same building as the General Motors headquarters. He was denied entrance to his own premiere, once again, until he came in without cameramen and press a few hours later.
When promoting the film, Michael Moore stated that he received a phone call telling him "to cool" it from a Democratic party official regarding the critical segment on Chris Dodd.
Originally announced as a direct follow-up to Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) after President George W. Bush was elected to a second term, Michael Moore gradually decided that the film would focus more on corporate America, until the 2008 financial crisis and resulting Wall Street bailout prompted him to rework the film again to center on that story.