Fandango, the nation’s largest online, phone and mobile movie ticketing service, announced today that it sold approximately 10 percent of the projected three-day $26.3 million* domestic opening weekend box office for Borat: Cultural Learnings on America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.
The Borat opening marks a stunning film debut for the Kazakhstani character from HBO’s “Da Ali G Show,” with the movie enjoying a smashing $31,511 * per-screen average on only 827 U.S. screens. In the past few days, Fandango surveyed several thousand moviegoers regarding the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy and found that:
— 80% saw Borat because they were “looking for a good comedy”;
— 83% said they were not offended by the “politically incorrect” humor of
Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Borat” character;
— 43% claim that the Kazakhstan government’s complaints about “Borat”
increased their interest in seeing the movie;
— 59% would be “very interested” in seeing Sacha Baron Cohen’s follow-up
movie, Bruno (based on a character from Cohen’s HBO series, “Da Ali G
Show”);
— The majority of respondents ranked Sacha Baron Cohen at the top of
their list of favorite comedic film actors (outpacing his former
Talladega Nights rival Will Ferrell; see list below):
Favorite Comedic Actors at the Movies:
1. Sacha Baron Cohen (24%)
2. Will Ferrell (20%)
3. Vince Vaughn (12%)
4. Steve Carell (11%)
5. Ben Stiller (8%)
6. Jack Black (8%)
7. Adam Sandler (8%)
8. Owen Wilson (6%)
“Borat proves that if you build anticipation for a true original, the moviegoers will come,” says Fandango Chairman & CEO Chuck Davis. “As of Sunday, Borat ticket sales are still very strong, comprising 66% of our total sales. It’s a tremendous kick-off to the holiday movie season, and Fandango’s moviegoers are already expressing interest in advance tickets for Casino Royale, Happy Feet, Charlotte’s Web and a slew of award-worthy films.”
