The film, which was shot with minimal crew, was filmed earlier this summer in a matter of weeks after COVID-19 restrictions on filming were loosened. According to the trade, Baron Cohen and the filmmakers travelled to various parts of the U.S. and abroad in order to have a film ready for release before November. Baron Cohen is even described as rushing the film to make sure it opens “before Election Day.” Comedy sequels can always be a risk unto themselves. When it premiered in the summer of 2006, the original Borat took moviegoers and the industry by surprise, being a sleeper hit that earned $262.6 million on a budget of $18,000. The movie Baron Cohen an international star, though his mainstream efforts have never landed with as much universal praise as that first effort. His follow-up in Bruno was a similar conceit, with the actor playing a character who put Americans in awkward situations to reveal their worst thoughts, but perhaps it was a little too blunt in holding up its mirror. Still, Baron Cohen has had success in other avenues in recent years, and in fact also stars in a major awards contender also premiering next month, Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7. So the performer returning to this character, and so urgently during the pandemic but before the election, raises a lot of intrigue about what was so vital that he needed to get it to streamers quarantining at home.
