Controversial 'Civil War' movie prompts debate over US schism

LOS ANGELES — A major film that imagines a second civil war in the near-future United States has highlighted fears about the divided state of the nation ahead of November's presidential election.

"Civil War," which premiered at the SXSW Festival this week and hits theaters April 12, pictures a three-term U.S. president in Washington, D.C., battling secessionist forces from California and Texas.

The movie stars Kirsten Dunst as a journalist travelling through a broken, dystopian nation. The FBI has been disbanded, and military drone strikes launched on U.S. citizens.