Quite a buzz is being generated about a new movie Reuters says "may be to the U.S. economy what ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ was to the environment."

"I.O.U.S.A.: Live with Warren Buffett, Pete Peterson & Dave Walker" can accurately be described as a "movie event" because it’s only airing one night across the nation and at only one theater in New Mexico: Aug. 21 at the Cottonwood 16 in Albuquerque.

"A private-equity billionaire, a former federal government official and a Baltimore newsletter editor have made a documentary film that they hope can do what an endless parade of policy papers has not: Persuade Americans that debt has created a looming economic crisis that would make the Great Depression look like a market correction," The Washington Post on Thursday wrote of the film, continuing:

Except for budget wonks in love, it hardly counts as a date movie. The film’s thrilling action sequence has a guy going to a refrigerator for a Tab. There are no car chases and nothing blows up.

Except, possibly, for the entire economic future of the United States.

The private equity billionaire is Peter G. Petersen, who The New York Times says is financing the film as the first part of a $1 million media campaign to educate the public about the looming financial crisis and the history of the nation’s failure to balance its budget.

While the film weaves together archival footage, hard data and interviews both serious and comical, the movie event promises to feature a live discussion with "America’s most notable financial leaders and policy experts, including well-known financier Warren Buffett; William Niskanen, chairman of the Cato Institute, a nonpartisan think tank; Bill Novelli, CEO of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP); Pete Peterson, senior chairman of The Blackstone Group, a private equity group, and chairman of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation; and Dave Walker, president & CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and former U.S. comptroller general."

The panel will be moderated by Becky Quick, co-anchor of CNBC’s morning news show "Squawk Box."

The online financial publication The Daily Reckoning told its readers this week:

People are telling us they’re willing to travel long distances to come see the film. We’ve heard from Canadians who are crossing the border and driving as far as 250 miles to the closest theatres. Readers from France and England are buying tickets, just to show their support. A civic group in Denver has reportedly bought 100 tickets and is encouraging its members to attend. And we heard from a reader that one of the theatres in Milwaukee is already sold out.

Granted, that testimonial was written by Addison Wiggin, executive publisher of Agora Financial and executive producer of the film.

But the hype is fueled by his desire to get the message out about the U.S. economy, which Agora characterizes on its site about the film as on "the brink of a financial meltdown." As Wiggin continues in the Daily Reckoning letter:

The live event on Aug. 21 is our one chance to fill up theatres and have the message of the film heard. If we’re successful on that night, the film has a much greater chance of later reaching a wider audience through a general release in theatres around the country. That’s why we need you to come out and see the film, along with your friends and colleagues.

To get tickets and find a theater near you, go to this site. As of this writing, the Cottonwood tickets were not yet on sale.

See the trailer for the movie here.