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In his breakout 2004 documentary "Super Size Me", filmmaker Morgan Spurlock attempted to show the world just how bad McDonald's is for you (particularly if you eat it all day, every day.) Now, Spurlock is going after all the big guns in his latest, "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold," an expose on the world of marketing, advertising and product placement.

Not so surprisingly, Spurlock couldn't get corporate sponsorship from many of the companies featured in the film (including his old friends at McDonald's.) Still, the ever-undeterred Spurlock sat down with MTV News at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival to talk about what it was like getting turned down by some big corporations and, despite all that, how he still managed to make a "docbuster."

Hilariously sporting an entirely corporate-sponsored jacket (Hyatt, JetBlue, and Pennsylvania's "greatest convenience store you'll ever stop in," Sheetz — which is providing collector cups for the movie's impending release — were game with Spurlock's vision), the director explained to MTV News that the three biggest sponsors of the project benefited from a commercial spot inserted within the movie itself. "It's the first time ever there's a film that has commercial breaks inside of it that, literally, are [woven] seamlessly into the movie."

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Tags Morgan-Spurlock, Sundance 2011, sundance film festival, Super Size Me, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Video

It should come as no surprise to anyone who's seen a studio movie in the past 30 years that many films rely on branding, advertising and product placement for part of their funding. But, then again, pretty much everyone knew McDonald's is terrible for you, and yet they were still left flabbergasted by Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary "Super Size Me." Needless to say, Spurlock's latest doc, "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold," should prove a bit shocking to those interested in how movies are created and funded in Hollywood.

Spurlock chose to examine the world of product placement, marketing and advertising by financing his film solely through the use of product placement, marketing and advertising. The film will premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Read more...

Tags Morgan-Spurlock, Sundance 2011, Super Size Me, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

It's a bizarre day, MTV Movies Blog readers. The 16-year-old pop sensation Justin Bieber is getting a biopic. In 3-D. Directed by "An Inconvenient Truth" helmer Davis Guggenheim. And it will release next year, for Valentine's Day weekend. Also, my birthday.

Strange times. Pigs are most definitely not flying, not here in New York City at any rate, but this Bieber/Guggenheim collaboration really is happening. And why not? Bieber is a towering figure in the current pop culture landscape. Guggenheim is a top-level documentary filmmaker. Who better to tell the story of Bieber's sudden -- remember, he only came into the spotlight last year -- meteoric rise to success? It's with that in mind that I offer these other potential subjects for our most talented documentary filmmakers... Read more...

Tags Albert Maysles, american idol, D.A. Pennebaker, errol morris, Frederick Wiseman, justin bieber, kanye west, Lady Gaga, Morgan-Spurlock, Twilight

Those shouts of "D'oh!" you're hearing this morning are coming from a nation of "Simpsons" fans who must now come to terms with the fact that another movie about the Springfield's favorite yellow-skinned, four-fingered family is a long way away. How long? At least until the series, now in its 21st season, is finished.

Speaking to filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, who is currently working on a 20th anniversary documentary about the series, creator Matt Groening and showrunner Al Jean at least had a good reason for not wanting to board the Hollywood train again so quickly, Variety reports. "It took 18 years to get around to doing the movie," Groening said. "We got very frustrated. We thought it would take two years but it ended up taking four. Some day maybe we'll do another one -- but don't hold your breath." Read more...

Tags Al Jean, matt groening, Morgan-Spurlock, the simpsons, the simpsons movie

This isn't really movie news, but there's a movie based on "The Simpsons" and Morgan Spurlock is an Oscar-nominated director. Put the two of them together, and that's enough for me to write it up here. Especially since I'm a pretty serious "Simpsons" nut.

Fox has announced that Spurlock is producing a for-TV documentary special to air on January 14, 2010 in celebration of "The Simpsons"' 20 years on television. Spurlock's "The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3-D on Ice" will cap off Fox's "Best. 20. Years. Ever." campaign, which launched last January to celebrate the long-running TV series' irreplaceable contributions to our culture. Where else could we have a quote like: "Alcohol is a way of life, alcohol is my way of life and I aim to keep it." Read more...

Tags Morgan-Spurlock, the simpsons

U2, P-Diddy, Morgan Spurlock and Charlize Theron were just a few of Hollywood's elite who took to the slopes of Sundance this past week to showcase their films – and my colleagues at MTV News spoke with all of them.

But forget the stars. From ground zero here in Los Angeles, the bird's eye view of the Festival was full of dollars, not Cents (as in 50), meaning big paydays for the following filmmakers:

"Hamlet 2": Hamlet tells his friend Horatio that "There are more things in heaven and earth, than are dreamt of in [his] philosophy." Yeah, no kidding, apparently there was a whole other story! The comedy flick with Steve Coogan as a teacher who writes a Shakespearean sequel sold to Focus Features for $10 million, easily the tops of the festival. And they said he was indecisive.
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Tags American-Teen, Charlize-Theron, choke, Chuck-Palahniuk, Hamlet-2, Henry-Poole-is-Here, little snowflake, luke-wilson, Morgan-Spurlock, P-Diddy, Steve-Coogan, U2