Sacha Baron Cohen's "Borat" has grossed more than $100 million at the box office, but can the British comedian pull off another "mockumentary," this time in the guise of a gay Austrian fashionista?
Universal Pictures has bet $42.5 million that he can.
Before "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" became a box-office sensation, Universal agreed to pay the hefty premium for the actor's next film, "Bruno," which it will market and distribute. 20th Century Fox, the studio behind "Borat," turned down the project, deeming it too expensive.
Universal may already be feeling buyer's remorse. The studio is not scheduled to release "Bruno" until 2008, but a flurry of lawsuits filed against Fox and the "Borat" filmmakers has led to predictions by some legal experts that Universal could be a target too. Some everyday people featured in "Borat" claim they were duped into believing that they were participating in a documentary about American life rather than a spoof that they claim made them look foolish.
And the legal issue may not be the only challenge Universal faces with "Bruno." Given all the publicity surrounding "Borat," Cohen may now be too well known, some say, to fool enough people into taking "Bruno" as seriously as is required to make the film work.
"He is going to have a real tough time making "Bruno" and so is Universal," predicted Edward D. Fagan, a New York attorney representing two Romanians who are suing Cohen, 20th Century Fox and several others connected with "Borat" for alleged civil rights violations.
"The cat's out of the bag," he said.
Universal declined to comment for this story, but studio officials have indicated they plan to move forward with "Bruno."
"Borat" was successful in part because of Cohen's believability as a Kazakh journalist and the participants' belief that the interviews he conducted for the film were legitimate.
For "Borat," Cohen and a crew posing as his Kazakh news team roved the country interviewing such figures as the head of a Southern rodeo, New York feminists, former Georgia Republican congressman Bob Barr and conservative pundit Alan Keyes. Fox agreed to let the filmmakers create several phony production companies to convince unsuspecting interview subjects that they were taking part in a real documentary.
