Borat Sequel Has Been Secretly Shot and Already Screened

Borat 2 is on the way. In fact, it appears Sacha Baron Cohen has not only started to shop the sequel to studios and distributors, but it's said he and his team have already filmed the project in its entirety. A new report from Collider says Cohen has filmed a direct follow-up to the Oscar-nominated Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan entirely in secret and has already screened a cut of the film to studio heads.

Plot-wise, it's suggested the film will feature the titular character as he's a new-found celebrity after the success of the first film. As such, he tries to blend in by playing a different person. The report says it's "Cohen playing Borat playing Cohen" and surprisingly enough, it's said they're trying to get the feature out by this year's general election in an effort to get younger voters to the polls.

Released in 2006, the first Borat was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2007 Oscars and went on to gross over $260 million globally. Though the haul might be small compared to the production budgets of today's tentpole flick, Borat was produced with a paltry $18 million budget handed down by 20th Century Fox. It's unclear if 20th Century has any involvement in the current production, especially after being taken over by Disney last year.

The characters were created long before 20th Century entered the fray, so it's the belief Cohen retained the rights to the intellectual property, hence the uncertainty of where the sequel will land.

As the film's already apparently in the can, it stands to reason one of the streamers could be attached to the project and will make an official announcement in the coming days — or, in the magic of digital media, a streamer could just drop the entire movie on a whim, like JJ Abrams' The Cloverfield Paradox.

Based on characters created by Cohen, Larry Charles directed the feature as Cohen and Jay Roach produced. It's unclear if Charles or Roach are involved with the project this time around.

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is available wherever movies are sold.