Sacha Baron Cohen ‘risked his life’ while making Borat 2, wore bulletproof vest twice. Watch first trailer

Actor Sacha Baron Cohen’s surprise sequel to his 2006 cult hit, Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, will debut on Amazon Prime Video on October 23, right before the US presidential elections. The streaming service released the first trailer on Thursday.

Deadline reports that the actor ‘risked his life’ to make the movie, which was shot in secret immediately after bans on filming were eased after the coronavirus lockdown, making it the first feature to be completed in its entirety after the pandemic hit.

On two days, the actor wore bulletproof vests. “On many days, there were risky and dangerous scenarios in shooting,” the report said.

In July, it was reported that a fake interview with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani ended with the police being called. The actor was also spotted pulling pranks at a gun rally in Olympia, Washington. Variety reported that the actor led the crowd to sing along to the ‘racist’ lyrics of an original song.

Directed by Larry Charles, the first Borat film was a runaway hit, grossing over $260 million against a $18 million budget. It also scored an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film was highly controversial, leading to a ban in the entire Arab world except for Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates (which released the film heavily censored).

Also read: A new and improved Sacha Baron Cohen takes on the ‘Silicon Six’

No director has so far been revealed for sequel, titled Borat: Gift of Pornographic Monkey to Vice Premiere Mikhael Pence to Make Benefit Recently Diminished Nation of Kazakhstan. But Peter Baynham, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jena Friedman, Anthony Hines, Lee Kern, Dan Mazer, Erica Rivinoja and Dan Swimer have been credited as writers.

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