Borat Conquers America

Crazy Kazakh Character Wins Weekend Box Office

(AP)  Sacha Baron Cohen's Kazakh alter-ego Borat made glorious returns at the box office, surprising Hollywood with a No. 1 debut.

"Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," 20th Century Fox's big-screen incarnation of Cohen's Kazakh journalist from "Da Ali G Show," took in $26.4 million during its opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"This picture was playing to full houses," said Bruce Snyder, head of distribution at 20th Century Fox. "The planets aligned, the moons aligned, the stars aligned, and everything came together perfectly for us on this weekend."

Box-office analysts had expected Disney's "The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause," with Tim Allen returning as St. Nicholas, to win the weekend. It was No. 2 with $20 million, followed by the Paramount-DreamWorks animated comedy "Flushed Away" in third place with $19.1 million.

With great Internet buzz and a built-in following from "Da Ali G Show," "Borat" succeeded where another cyber-sensation, "Snakes on a Plane," failed. "Snakes" opened last summer to modest crowds despite months of Internet hoopla.

The raucous, raunchy "Borat" follows the adventures of British comedian Cohen's TV journalist from Kazakhstan in a blend of fiction and improvised comic encounters as he travels the United States, meets and mocks Americans and reports back to his home country.

"It is what you go to the theater for," said Hutch Parker, the studio's head of production. "You get that infectious, outrageous, interactive experience. There are people yelling at the screen, there are cheers."

"Borat" played in only 837 theaters, fewer than one-fourth the count for "The Santa Clause 3" and "Flushed Away." Averaging a whopping $31,511 a theater, "Borat" easily outdistanced "The Santa Clause 3," which averaged $5,784 in 3,458 cinemas and "Flushed Away," which averaged $5,152 in 3,707 theaters.

Fox plans to expand "Borat" to as many as 2,500 theaters this Friday.

"The Santa Clause 3" pits Allen's St. Nick against Jack Frost (Martin Short) as they battle for control of Christmas. "Flushed Away" features the voices of Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet in the story of a pampered pet mouse forced to make his way among sewer rats.

The two movies split the family audience, but their opening weekends were solid starts for the holiday season. Disney and Paramount expect their movies to hang tough through year's end, even with the Warner Bros. animated penguin tale "Happy Feet" coming just before Thanksgiving.

"The Thanksgiving holiday is going to be just rocking," said Disney head of distribution Chuck Viane.

The previous weekend's top movie, Lionsgate's horror sequel "Saw III," held up solidly at No. 4 with $15.5 million, raising its 10-day total to $60.1 million.

However, the strong crop of new movies and holdovers did not quite stack up to the same weekend a year ago, when "Chicken Little" opened at No. 1 with $40 million and "Jarhead" debuted at No. 2 with $27.7 million. This weekend's top 12 movies took in $116.2 million, down 3 percent from the same period last year.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," $26.4 million.

2. "The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause," $20 million.

3. "Flushed Away," $19.1 million.

4. "Saw III," $15.5 million.

5. "The Departed," $8 million.

6. "The Prestige," $7.8 million.

7. "Flags of Our Fathers," $4.5 million.

8. "Man of the Year," $3.8 million.

9. "Open Season," $3.1 million.

10. "The Queen," $3 million.

[ronniehm]

"It's kind of like Conservatives and South Park."

I don't watch cartoons, so I'll have to take your word for it.

[ronniehm]

"RonnieHM, have you even seen the movie, or are you repeating something you read from some freeper website?"

I have even seen the movie. Have you?

[bluestardad]

glad with this election getting over don't have to come back to the web site anymore..GRAB YOUR ANKLES AND EAT SOME GRASS

[shingles1]

It's kind of like Conservatives and South Park.
They only get HALF the jokes.

[shingles1]

RonnieHM, have you even seen the movie, or are you repeating something you read from some freeper website?

[ronniehm]

"This may be the funniest, most subversive film I have ever seen."
--Michael Moore

I see Spongemike Sweatpants is too stupid to recognize when a movie is making fun of his ideology, though I suppose compared to him, Borat does manage to come across as an intellectual.

[ronniehm]

"A flim that only makes fun of America"

Actually it's a film that makes fun of people who make fun of America. If you want to find the real humor, check out the audience. There's nothing funnier than watching people who agree with a movie that was intended to show how stupid they'd be to agree with the movie.

[gunnerv1]

The "Three Stooges" all rolled up into one.

[kschick1]

Yakov Smirnoff is doing several shows a day in Branson, MO. He has his own theater and actually just went through a divorce a couple of years ago which is something he talks about in his performances.
He's still around! I don't know what he does in the off-season though.

[bluestardad]

WHO CARES AT ALL?

[olebd]

Whatever happened to Yakov Smirnoff?

[thomderr]

Probably because we need a little levity!

[connapa]

I'd say that comedy is king at the box office.