‘Borat 2’: Amazon Reportedly Paid $80 Million for the Sequel!!

Borat 2, the only movie anyone cares to talk about, continues to make headlines as more details about the production come out. To wit – Borat mastermind and all-around comedic genius Sacha Baron Cohen originally planned to release the sequel theatrically through Universal before it ultimately landed at Amazon for a price tag of reportedly $80 million.

As reported by Deadline, the original idea was to have Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, starring Baron Cohen and newcomer Maria Bakalova and directed by Jason Woliner, in theaters before the election, because it specifically targets Trump’s America. However, Universal was understandably gunshy considering the fact that the pandemic still has most theaters at very limited capacity if not closed outright, leaving box office receipts downright anemic. The film, So the studio allowed Baron Cohen to shop his extremely timely sequel around to several streamers before Amazon threw down its $80 million gauntlet (it’s unclear exactly which were involved, but it’s a safe bet that Netflix and Apple were among the outlets bidding on the film). Notably, Baron Cohen specifically wanted a streaming release as opposed to PVOD, to allow the widest possible audience to see it without the need of an additional transaction. Essentially, he didn’t want to mess around with that “$20-$30 per rental” nonsense currently running rampant on smart TVs and Rokus everywhere.

Borat 2 has remained firmly in headlines since its release last Friday, primarily focused around the controversial scene in which Rudy Giuliani appears to fondle himself on camera. There’s also been some backlash over Baron Cohen’s treatment of some people in the film, including the late Holocasut survivor Judith Dim Evans and a kind (and extremely patient) babysitter named Jeanise Jones. The controversy is to be expected from a project by Baron Cohen, who has been pushing the envelope with his satirical characters for several decades now.

via Collider