The Real Reason There Will Never Be Another Borat Movie
If you were hoping for a third Borat movie, creator Sacha Baron Cohen has some bad news for you.
After originally creating the character of Borat Sagdiyev — an inept Kazakhstani journalist who finds himself wildly out of place in the United States — as a part of his early 2000s comedy series Da Ali G Show, Cohen brought Borat to the big screen in 2006 with Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Thanks to Cohen's surging popularity and the sheer boldness of his stunts, which uncovered some of the worst sides of very real people within the U.S., Borat was an enormous success, crushing the box office and earning rave reviews across the board.
For years, it seemed as if Borat would never return, but in the fall of 2020, Cohen surprised everybody with Borat Subsequent Moviefilm — with the ridiculous subtitle Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan — which he filmed and crafted in almost complete secrecy. Against all odds, the sequel was, for many audiences, even more effective than the original, earning glowing reviews for its modern focus and a star-making turn from Bulgarian actress Maria Bakalova, who stars alongside Cohen as Borat's subservient daughter Tutar.
However, Cohen has revealed that Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is the final nail in the coffin for this character. Here's the real reason why we won't ever see another Borat movie.
Sacha Baron Cohen says the character of Borat is "locked away in the cupboard"
In a feature in Variety, Cohen made a blunt but not totally unexpected announcement: though Borat did return after fourteen years, fans aren't going to get a third Borat film any time soon... or likely at all.
Cohen's mental state was a big factor when it came to retiring the character of Borat originally; as he told Variety, after making so many movies where he inhabits other characters, he felt scarred and frightened. "After Bruno, I was fairly traumatized," Cohen admitted. "For about six months afterwards whenever I heard a police siren, I would start to get tense, because I'd been chased by the police so much. I vowed never to make another undercover movie again."
However, one big factor brought Cohen out of character retirement: President Donald Trump, who won the Presidency in 2016 only to lose the 2020 election to the former Vice President, President-elect Joe Biden. "I felt democracy was in peril, I felt people's lives were in peril and I felt compelled to finish the movie," Cohen told Variety. "The movie was originally about the danger of Trump and Trumpism. What coronavirus demonstrated was that there's a lethal effect to his spreading of lies and conspiracy theories."
"I brought Borat out because of Trump," Cohen said simply. However, he was also incredibly clear about Borat's future: "There was a purpose to this movie, and I don't really see the purpose to doing it again. So yeah, he's locked away in the cupboard."
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is available to stream on Amazon Prime now.