Brüno may have trumped its box-office competition on two continents last weekend, but if a cluster of developments around the Web are any indication, that disturbing Friday-Saturday drop of 40% left its patrons at Universal dizzily reeling at the controls.
And this isn't even counting the Friday backlash initiated by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (which you might have seen coming if you've kept an eye here in recent weeks). Instead, wizened Time Magazine critic Richard Corliss of all people pointed to a Twitter backlash that perhaps crippled the film through crummy, fast-spreading word-of-mouth. "Friday is the new weekend," he wrote. "Brüno could be the first movie defeated by the Twitter effect."
Which is news to Variety kingpin Peter Bart, who jumped in later Monday with studio-rimming math showing why $30.4 million domestically is a success for Uni (which bought the film for $42.5 million and is rumored to have spent nearly $100 million marketing it) and the rest of the Bruno family: "Though the structure may have its skeptics, the reality is that everyone connected with Brüno seems happy - especially Sacha Baron Cohen, since he's both rich and alive."
But how happy could the principals be if they're already sanitizing Brüno for re-release in the UK, where its original, adult "18" rating is thought to have tamped down a £5 million ($8.1 million) opening? THR reports that a new cut of the film -- minus the [SPOILER ALERT] Milli Vanilli fellatio seance, the sex portions of the swingers party, and the naked, whip-wielding dominatrix -- has been submitted for a more accessible "15" rating, marking an unprecedented instance in which two versions of the same film will appear simultaneously in UK theaters.
As a marketing move it's not bad, though censorship is generally more controversial when someone besides the studio doing the censoring. But is it necessary? Moreover, with the 15+ crowd en route to Harry Potter starting at midnight tonight, isn't it too late for such an appeal? Go ahead, Mr. Bart -- let me know where I got it wrong.
· Brüno a One-Day Wonder? [Time]
· Sacha's Stash [BFDealMemo]