Opening day: Movie ‘Bruno’ heading toward fabulous $40-million opening

Bruno - Sacha Baron Cohen

“Bruno” is on track to exceed already sizable expectations for its opening weekend.

Universal’s Sacha Baron Cohen comedy sold a studio-estimated $14.2 million worth of tickets Friday, making it likely that the film will gross close to, and possibly even exceed, $40 million by Sunday.

Given that the studio paid financier Media Rights Capital -$42.5 million- for rights to distribute the film, and that it will likely earn about the same amount overseas, that’s a very strong start. In fact, it could be one of the biggest debuts ever for an R-rated comedy, behind only “Sex and the City,” “American Pie 2,” “Scary Movie” and June’s “The Hangover.”

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Reviews: Bruno

Reviews 1: Bruno

The crown of the reigning king of bad taste must pass from John Waters to Sacha Baron Cohen. After Borat he pushes the envelope even further in Brüno with frontal nudity, graphic sex and Nazi jokes and much worse besides. It’s gross, offensive and puerile in equal measure—but it is impossible not to laugh while you wince and recoil. Prospects, despite the R rating (for pervasive strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity and language), must be rosy.

The pattern is the same as Borat, except this time Sacha Baron Cohen has created for himself a gay Austrian fashionista who sets off the States with his trusty German assistant to become, in his words, “the biggest gay movie star since Schwarzenegger.”

He finds himself at a loose end after he’s fired from his Austrian television show because he brought the house down, almost literally, when his Velcro outfit created a major incident at a fashion show in Milan.

So what does he get up to in Hollywood? He hosts a TV talk show with guests Paula Abdul and LaToya Jackson, who take to their heels after being served sushi from the body of a naked Mexican. There is a half-hearted attempt to go straight “just like Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Kevin Spacey.” And he calls in a focus group to give their verdicts on a television show he has produced which is totally disgusting.

At one point he becomes chained to his assistant for a bit of bondage and then they try to board a bus—naked and unashamed. There’s a wrestling match in a cave and a swingers’ party that swings in unexpected directions. He tries to seduce Ron Paul, the former Presidential candidate, and there’s a hilarious scene when, acting as the producer of a film, he tells the proud parents of a prospective cast member that their son would be expected to dress as a Nazi and push a wheelbarrow into an oven. Its contents are a Jewish baby. The mother’s unrepentant response is: “That’s fine as long as he gets the gig.”

Much of the fun is to be derived from watching the consternation and reaction of those who are not in on the joke—but after Borat it’s clear many people are wiser and the makers may have had to work harder to spring the surprises.

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Tv Spot: Bruno – Too Far

watch Bruno TV Spot – Too Far

A fifth TV Spot for Bruno which is due to hit theaters on July 10, 2009.

Will Bruno Enforce or Expose Homophobia?

Bruno - Sacha Baron Cohen

In an interesting piece from the New York Times, author Brooks Barnes focuses on the question of whether or not Sacha Baron Cohen’s upcoming comedy, “Brüno” will reveal stereotypes and cause audiences to face their own latent homophobia or if audiences are too stupid to grasp that this is satire and that it will re-enforce their attitude towards homosexuals.

Now before you cry, “How could anyone be so stupid to not see this is as parody?” I would direct you to a recent study conducted by Ohio State University which found that conservatives thought that Stephen Colbert wasn’t a caricature but saying what he actually believed and that the joke was on liberals in the audience.

I haven’t seen “Brüno” but it’s one of my most anticipated films of the summer. I will say that I don’t think the film will re-enforce homophobia especially since Cohen has already tested the waters with “Borat” and while that film got him sued a lot, there wasn’t a rash of antisemitism after the film came out. Of course, the key difference is that Brüno is a homosexual while the idiot character of Borat isn’t Jewish; he just openly despises Jews. Still, it’s hard to side with the man who brings a bag of his own shit to the dinner table.