The full title for Sacha Baron Cohen‘s secret Borat sequel has reportedly surfaced, and Vice President Mike Pence might not be so happy about it. The title Borat: Gift of Pornographic Monkey to Vice Premiere Mikhael Pence to Make Benefit Recently Diminished Nation of Kazakhstan surfaced as a title on the Writers’ Guild of America website, along with the film’s writers. The original 2006 film had a similarly long full-length title, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
The WGA filing has since been deleted, but The Film Stage spotted it before it disappeared. The screenplay was by Baron Cohen with Anthony Hines, Dan Swimmer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, and Lee Kern, based on a story by Baron Cohen, Hines, Dan Swimmer, and Nina Pedrad. Baron Cohen, Hines, and Mazer also worked on the original Borat screenplay, which was surprisingly nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar in 2007, since Baron Cohen’s character previously appeared on F2F and Da Ali G Show.
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Rumors that Baron Cohen began secretly filming a Borat sequel surfaced over the summer. In June, there were social media reports that he showed up at a right-wing militia rally in Olympia, Washington. The comedian was filmed performing an offensive and racist song, which the people at the rally appeared to be enjoying. He was not dressed as Borat, though, and instead pretended to be a PAC leader trying to sponsor the rally. He also hired his own security, who blocked anyone from trying to drag him offstage.
On Sept. 8, Collider reported that the scene was filmed for Borat 2 and Baron Cohen even held a secret screening for industry executives. One source described the film as “Cohen playing Borat playing Cohen.” After all, the Borat character is so well-known that the antics seen in the original film would be difficult to pull off playing the exact same character to catch people off guard again.
There are still several mysteries surrounding the new film. It is not clear who financed the project. The original film was released by 20th Century Fox, which is now owned by Disney. Baron Cohen may own the rights to Borat, so he could have the freedom to work with a streamer on a new project. It is also unknown if original Borat director Larry Charles and producer Jay Roach are involved at all.
