Borat Sequel to Premiere on Amazon Prime Before Election Day

Twentieth Century Fox

The sequel to Sacha Baron Cohen’s 2006 comedy Borat will premiere on Amazon Prime on October 23. The movie, shot during the Covid-19 shutdown, was rushed to be ready to debut before Election Day.

Baron Cohen returns as the titular Kazakhstani journalist in the follow-up to his surprise hit, which was based on a character from his HBO series Da Ali G Show. The first film, titled Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, followed his character as he attempted to learn about American culture. The movie was a hybrid of a scripted narrative mixed with real-life pranks. Plot details for the sequel haven’t been announced.

According to Deadline, Borat 2 was “the first movie made during the COVID-19 shutdown,” with filming taking place once coronavirus shooting restrictions were eased. Baron Cohen and a small crew traveled to various parts of the United States to shoot scenes for the sequel. Deadline also reports that Baron Cohen wore a bulletproof vest while shooting certain scenes for the film due to some of the dangerous scenarios involved.

The original Borat was released theatrically by Fox, which has since been acquired by Disney. Due to the uncertain nature of the theater industry, producers decided the film would reach the widest possible audience before Election Day by premiering on a streaming platform.

Rumors of Baron Cohen shooting a secret project emerged back in July when it was reported that Rudy Giuliani called the NYPD on Cohen during a prank interview in which the comedian approached the former mayor wearing a pink bikini. Giuliani didn’t realize it was Cohen until after the fact.