Cheating sumo wrestlers, the value of a name, bribing students to do better in school, and legalized abortion leading to a lower crime rate are all topics in the documentary anthology Freakonomics.  Based on the best-selling book by economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner, Freakonomics takes the book’s individual chapters and hands them off to noted documentary filmmakers Seth Gordon (The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters), Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side), Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight), and Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp).  While Freakonomics has the makings of an excellent weekly TV show, there’s nothing that holds it together as a complete motion picture beyond the source material and an interesting approach to a particular topic.

Magnolia Pictures has released the opening scene of the upcoming documentary Freakonomics.  The film is an anthology where different directors visualized chapters from the best-selling book by economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen J. Dubner.  The directors involved are Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side), Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight), and Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing (Jesus Camp).

The opening scene and transitions in the film were handled by Seth Gordon (The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters).  The opening scene does a good job of setting the tone for the film and provides a nice visualization about why your realtor doesn’t have your best interests at heart.  Hit the jump to check out the clip.  Freakonomics opens in theaters on Friday but you can click here to rent it from iTunes.