Unlike Fox, Universal will release "Bruno" widely immediately, and because moviegoers are now hip to Baron Cohen's manner, the studio doesn't need to launch a Fox-style education effort.
In fact, according to data compiled by the National Research Group, "Bruno," nine days before its release, enjoys double the audience awareness of "Borat" at the same point -- 70% versus 35%. In addition to showing strong "Bruno" support from men younger than 25, the NRG data also show that "Bruno's" "unaided awareness" -- a measure of how familiar moviegoers are with a title without prompting by survey takers -- was running ahead of "Borat's" pace. One rival studio estimated that "Bruno" could enjoy an opening weekend gross of more than $30 million.
Universal has repeatedly suggested to ticket buyers that if they liked "Borat," they will love "Bruno," which is undeniably more outrageous. At the same time, the studio is courting female moviegoers ("Bruno" spots have been running in "Gossip Girl" and "The Bachelorette," shows that also have followings from gay males), in hopes of expanding Baron Cohen's fan base.
In part because the film has been criticized by gay activists for its depiction of homosexuality (Bruno is a gay man obsessed with anal sex, bondage wear and sex toys), Universal has used its television spots and preview trailers to show that many of the film's pranks have nothing to do with the title character's sexual orientation, or how people in the movie react to his sexual conduct.
Almost every TV spot shows Baron Cohen, trying to hide his face from paparazzi, running into a wall at the airport. Several spots include a sequence where he tells a purported terrorist that Osama Bin Laden "looks like a kind of dirty wizard or homeless Santa." Many spots have included Baron Cohen's appearance on Richard Bey's television talk show, where the actor says he adopted an African American infant in a swap for an iPod.
At the same time, Universal is emphasizing that Baron Cohen is playing a character -- the film's publicity material, in a departure from how Baron Cohen typically operates, reveals in detail how he and his filmmaking team staged the movie's set pieces.
No matter how broadly Universal is selling the film, audience surveys show that "Bruno" will polarize ticket buyers. Besides asking potential moviegoers if they were "definitely interested" in "Bruno," the NRG pollsters also asked them if they were "definitely not interested" in the movie.
