February 09, 2007

Very Nice! Sacha Baron Cohen Will Return For 'Borat' Sequel

By Shawn Adler (MTV.com)

How do Gypsy tears ward off evil spirits? Why won't Pamela Anderson make sexy time? What's the best way to get the smell of "two wrinkled Golden Globes" out of a grown man's mustache?

Audiences can only hope that these and other nagging questions from Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan are addressed next year, as News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch announced Thursday (February 8) that star Sacha Baron Cohen will return as the bewildered Kazakhstani journalist in a yet-untitled sequel, tentatively called Borat 2.

"I've seen [Borat] about three times and laughed like hell," Murdoch told audience members during an early-morning keynote speech at the McGraw Hill Media Summit in New York.

Murdoch, whose financial holdings include 20th Century Fox and MySpace, saw his film division recently post record earnings in large part due to the global success of Borat, which tickled viewers to the tune of nearly $250 million worldwide.

It's this very popularity that has led many to speculate a Borat sequel would be impossible to film, since Baron Cohen's abrasive, deceptive style often depends on outwitting interview subjects unfamiliar with his fake persona. Baron Cohen was sued by several of the film's participants who claimed he duped them into appearing in the flick.

"I don't think [Borat] destroyed our culture," Murdoch said, defending Borat against some of the more salacious charges. "If anything, it made Americans laugh at themselves."

Baron Cohen -- who won a Golden Globe for Best Actor and whose Borat screenplay is currently up for an Academy Award -- is in pre-production on Bruno, a similarly themed flick about a gay Austrian television reporter. The star could not be reached for comment, and calls to Fox went unreturned at press time.