TRAVERSE CITY -- The name of the movie "Religulous" pretty much describes how the filmmakers view organized religion.
Combining the name of what many people hold dear with the word ridiculous may seem like box-office poison, yet its two showings at the Traverse City Film Festival were the first to sell out -- not counting Madonna's film. And director Larry Charles and star Bill Maher expect it to do well in multiplexes everywhere.
"We expect it to compete at a mall on a Saturday night," Charles said Friday afternoon, adding that last night's screening would be his first chance to witness audience reaction. The closest he's come so far has been blogged reactions to Internet trailers and those have been mostly positive, he said.
Charles, who was a staff writer on "Seinfeld" and has directed HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and the movie "Borat," described the film's premise.
"These supernatural beliefs from the Bronze Age are leading us on the path to self-destruction," he said, and are responsible for violence, homophobia and sexism.
Maher, host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," has been a well-known critic of all the major faiths and their followers.
That didn't keep most of the devout interviewees in the film from talking to him on camera, Charles said.
"People feel very strongly about it and wanted to express themselves," he said. "There wasn't a lot of resistance."
"Religulous" mostly examines the three major Western religions and their offshoots. They spend a fair amount of time looking at Mormonism, which is "one of the fastest growing religions in the world," Charles said.
Charles, a member of the festival's board of directors, was raised in a Jewish household and said he was more interested in the faith than his parents were.
"That scared them," he said.
He's still interested in the metaphysical questions, but doesn't call himself religious or spiritual.
"I'd call myself curious," he said.
He also does not call himself an atheist.
"Bill and I say we don't know what the answer is and it's ridiculous when people say, 'We do know,'" he said. "When you decide that this is the answer, anyone standing in the way of your truth is a threat."
The movie will show today at 3 p.m. at Lars Hockstad Auditorium. It will be released to theaters by Lionsgate in the fall, Charles said.
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