US film release slashed back

Or, as Fox chief Bruce Snyder put it in Hollywood-speak: ‘It was soft in awareness.’

The distributor has halved the number of cinemas where Sacha Baron Cohen’s spoof documentary is due to open next month.

Despite much-publicised protests from Kazakhstan, where his fictional TV reporter is said to be from, and a series of high-profile publicity stunts, many Americans are still unaware of the film.

According to the Los Angeles Times, industry analysts could not recall a studio trimming the number of locations so sharply less than two weeks before a film's debut.

Fox had planned to open Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan in more than 2,000 cinemas. Instead, it will start in about 800 locations, with hopes to expand it to 2,200 the following weekend if it attracts enough attention.

An industry survey showed that only 27 per cent of people were aware of the film, compared to 81 per cent knowing about Disney’s The Santa Claus 3, also opening on November 3.

The LA Times added that ‘Fox has had trouble selling Borat outside of the big cities and college towns where Cohen's brand of politically incorrect satire has gathered legions of fans’.

• Kazakhstan's ambassador to Britain has said he felt a ‘bit insulted’ while watching the movie, even though he found it funny. Erlan Idrissov said: ‘I sincerely laughed at many of the jokes, but at the same time couldn't get rid of a feeling of being a bit insulted. I suspect that once you know something of the true Kazakhstan, his antics will leave a nasty aftertaste.’

Published: 25 Oct 2006