Bring Borat Home With You
Borat Sagdiyev first received attention as one of the outrageous characters on Sacha Baron Cohen's "Da Ali G Show."
When he made his big-screen debut, he became a national sensation. Now his film "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" is available on DVD.
The movie follows a Kazakhstani television reporter as he embarks on a journey to discover America.
The film shocked many, and Entertainment Weekly magazine even posed the question: "Has this man made the funniest movie ever or simply the most outrageous, offensive one?"
"The fact that it showed supposed prejudices in America, it made a sort of social point," Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly's editor at large, told The Early Show entertainment contributor and People magazine Assistant Managing Editor Jess Cagle. "It was really funny and it made people think."
The studio was a little nervous before the film's release, but the $26 million opening at just 800 theaters put their minds at ease. It set the pace for one of the year's most controversial and surprising hits.Click here to see photos of the premiere of "Borat"
The faux documentary also surprised the unwitting Americans Borat interviewed. Some have even sued the producers over their participation.
"They all sign release forms, everybody that appeared on the film," Tucker said. "It was pretty water-tight in terms of legal terms, but it was a bonanza for publicity 'cause it meant the news media was forced to cover this as a news story, that there were people so offended that they would sue Fox, the film company that released it and Sacha Baron Cohen."
The film, which cost a reported $18 million, took in over a $250 million worldwide, received an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay and earned Cohen a Golden Globe award for best actor in a comedy.
All involved in the film hope the success continues with the DVD release, which includes over 30 minutes of outrageous deleted scenes. There has been talk of a "Borat" sequel, but it seems unlikely. More likely is a film based on another of Cohen's "Da Ali G Show" characters, Bruno, a flamboyant Austrian.