It’s been five years since Michael Moore unearthed the existence of an audience for wide-release documentaries with “Bowling for Columbine,” a polemic about gun violence in American culture that pulled in a incredible average of $8,000 per screen per day during its opening weekend (most no. 1 films average somewhere around $4,000 during opening week). Two years later he raised the stakes and the bankability of documentaries again with “Fahrenheit 9/11,” which raked in $119 million in America and another $103 million abroad.

Much the same was expected for Mr. Moore’s new film, “Sicko,” a screed on the American health care system that was originally scheduled to open nationwide this coming Friday. No doubt the film’s studio, the Weinstein Company — which has had a tough go of it recently with the box-office bomb “Grindhouse” and the boneheaded “The Ex” — envisioned the film opening to a nation of packed theaters, all filled with eager supporters and curious detractors of Mr. Moore.

But thanks to the Internet — an essential instrument for the creation of “Sicko,” as it helped Mr. Moore to connect with disgruntled Americans who felt they had been given the cold shoulder by their HMOs — the studio’s best laid plans have been scrapped. More than two weeks ago, a crystal-clear version of “Sicko” popped up online; for a few hours, the film was even posted to YouTube, broken up into a series of clips. With three weeks to go before the official June 29 release date, the Weinstein Company watched as its prospective thunderous opening weekend evaporated in a sea of clicks and downloads.

In response, the studio raced to get the film into theaters a week early, with sneak previews in 27 markets, including a single New York City movie screen, AMC’s Lincoln Center. And sure enough, the numbers spoke for themselves: In a weekend when the no. 1 box office film, “Evan Almighty,” averaged right around $9,000 per venue, the online tracking firm Box Office Mojo showed yesterday that the estimated weekend average for “Sicko” at its Lincoln Center venue was $70,000. That’s 7,000 tickets over three days, which breaks down to 2,333 tickets per day, or roughly 466 tickets per screening.

Long story short: The Moore crowds were out in force in Manhattan this weekend, leading to one sold-out show after another and proving that the interest in the film is there, even two weeks after it topped the YouTube charts.

Naturally, speculation now points to the Weinstein Company, and whether it did the right thing by hastily bumping up the release of “Sicko.” Surely, the studio was worried about losing money to online piracy, but clearly it did not have the flexibility to ship prints and secure screens for a wide June 22 release (why only one Manhattan screen?). Moreover, everyone who wanted to watch the film on their computers had already had nearly two weeks to do so by the time the first tickets went on sale Friday.

Rather, the risk the company now faces is that it may have damaged the intangible “must-see” factor that is so integral to the success of Mr. Moore’s films. By staggering the film’s opening weekend and pre-empting its nationwide release, the studio may have diluted that opening night, packed-crowd sensation that draws so many people: “Columbine” and “Fahrenheit” weren’t just films, they were social events.

Looking ahead now to the film’s pseudo-national release this Friday, the question is whether theaters will be as packed — not just in New York City, but in all those 27 markets — without the audiences who have already seen the film, and whether the national discussion will be as loud and boisterous without those tens of thousands of politically-minded viewers who have already made their Moore pilgrimage.

On the other hand, perhaps something more shrewd and sophisticated is unfolding, all as part of a modern strategy to spread “Sicko” to an even wider market. During the last month, the film and its director have been consistent headline generators, first due to Mr. Moore’s controversial visit to Cuba during filming (for which he is still being investigated by the government), then due to the widespread piracy of the film and the premature opening last Friday. As for the latter, the press releases announcing the sneak previews ran in daily newspapers all over the country, providing a marketing angle that is closed to most movies. In the process, all this “news” has led to almost unprecedented word of mouth, whether indignant over the Cuba visit, fascinated by the rampant piracy, or tantalized by the prospect of being one of the first to catch “Sicko” on the big screen. Why pay to run advertisements when you can publicize your movie on the inside pages of the world’s newspapers?

Either way, Mr. Moore doesn’t seem too upset about his film being ripped off. In a surprisingly subdued uptown press conference last weekend, he countered his quick discussion of the film’s piracy with a word of appreciation to the pirates. “Let’s talk about that,” Mr. Moore said with a sly grin, on the same day that Weinstein announced the film’s early rollout. “The film that leaked on the Internet is not taken in a movie theater with a home video camera, the way it’s usually done. This is an inside job. Now, if you were a police detective, what’s the motive? Who has a vested interest in destroying the opening of the film? Of ruining the opening weekend box office? Having said that, I’m glad people were able to see my movie. I’m not a big believer in our copyright laws, I find them way too restrictive.”

As for where people see his movie — in theaters, on DVD, or on YouTube — Mr. Moore said he believes people have already formed their ideas about our overburdened health care system, and are simply awaiting an opportunity to make their voices known.

“I do these things in part because I do believe things will change,” he said. “I believe that the American people, when they have enough information, do make their feelings known. Things happen when the people will it to happen, and I believe the American people have had it with this broken system and they are just waiting for the moment to rise up and demand change, and I hope this film provides that spark.”

ssnyder@nysun.com