News / Entertainment
Borat DVD Release Could Be Halted; Judge to Decide
While Sacha Baron Cohan has made millions off of his movie “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” he could be losing out on millions more. The surprise hit of the year has topped $116 million in the U.S. alone but could be facing a road block to future earnings.
An LA Superior Court Judge will decide whether or not the DVD release of the movie will be given the green light. Ever since the movie hit theaters there have been complaints and lawsuits filed against Cohan and 20th Century Fox by those who appeared in the film unwittingly.
Among the first lawsuits filed was that by two University of South Carolina fraternity members. They claimed that they only signed a release form to appear in the movie after the movie’s producers got them drunk and told them the movie would not be released in the United States.
Judge Joseph Biderman reviewed the scene in which the two fraternity members appeared. The scene is full of racist and sexist remarks made by the two. Their lawsuit claims the film subjected them to “ridicule, humiliation, mental anguish and emotional and physical distress, loss of reputation, goodwill and standing in the community.”
While he reviewed the scene on Thursday, the judge did not indicate when he would make his ruling. If he stops the release of the DVD it would cut into a serious source of profit for the movie. While box-office dollars are important for a film, the revenue generated from DVD’s over the course of time is generally equal to or greater than the box-office take.
