Apparently Borat isnt going down as well as wed been told, particularly with Kazakhstan officials. Now the film has been cut from more than two thousand cinemas in the US because of fears that the film wont be well received - isnt it a bit late in the day to decide that?

According to IMDB:

The movie has already upset politicians in Kazakhstan, who insist the comedians character paints a terrible picture of their country, and now film distributors in the US fear cinemagoers will find the movie more offensive than funny. The film was scheduled to open in 2,000 cinemas across America on Friday, but it will now bow in only 700. Movie executives at Twentieth Century Fox pulled the plug on the wide opening after the film tested poorly.

Wow, thats a huge reduction and it shows a complete lack of faith in the film. Are we thinking there wont be a sequel and perhaps Sacha Baron Cohens next character better be a little less offensive to some people?

As I said before, Im not a big fan of Borat and a few readers popped up to agree. This doesnt hurt me in the slightest, but I suspect it will hurt Cohen somewhat.

What does surprise me is that this decision has been made so late in the day. Were there not test screenings earlier? Did they not have an idea this might happen when the studio and filmmakers saw footage themselves?

<