Amazon, who rarely tells us who's watching what, has released the numbers on who's watching Borat 2, and they're very nice!
Amazon Studios has claimed “huge engagement” and “tens of millions” of customer views. Without giving exact numbers, we know more than one million fans tuned in to interact with character Borat on the movie’s Facebook watch party on Thursday night, and that the same number watched a branded content livestream on Twitch.
The going rumor is that Amazon shelled out a pretty penny for the exclusive rights for the second Borat, so this is good news for them.
Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios, said in a statement, “Sacha has masterfully created one of the most well received films of these unprecedented times—showcasing some of the best and the worst of us, wrapped in one outrageous moment after another. But at its core, Borat 2 is a heartwarming story of a father-daughter relationship and of female empowerment seen through a hysterical, satirical lens. With the tremendous launch of this global, tentpole movie, it’s clear our customers around the world want content that is both relevant and entertaining.”
'Borat Subsequent Moviefilm'Credit: Amazon
The film lit social media afire with their Rudy Giuliani clips, but the real standout was 62-year-old Jeanise Jones, who answered the call for a "grandma character.'"
Jones gave an interview to the New York Post in which she said she feels “betrayed” by the filmmaking team because she was led to believe that she was taking part in a real documentary about a teenage girl being groomed to marry a rich man.
Her advice and heart and warmth showed the American people the kindness they wish they could find, and while she was paid $3,600 for her role in the movie, there is a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign to get her to the $100,000 mark.
While social media was afire, even the Kazakh tourist board has got in on the promotion, adopting Borat’s catchphrase “Very nice!” for their latest campaign.
This success for the film may not translate into a third installment, but it certainly may encourage Amazon and other studios to see what other big comedies they can help reinvent or reboot for consumption. Even without knowing how much Amazon paid for Borat, it's easy to see how it paid off.
Let us know what you think in the comments.
