Sacha Baron Cohen Says He Spent $3 Million of His Own Money Filming an 8-Hour Scene: ‘Completely Idiotic’
Yahoo • • entertainment
Key Points:
- Sacha Baron Cohen personally spent $3 million to film a complex, eight-hour continuous shot sequence in his new mockumentary Ali G: Who Iz I?, which involved multiple locations and intricate scenes including gunfire and a pretend kidnapping.
- The ambitious final scene required coordinating about 400 beats perfectly with real people, and faced numerous challenges including location evacuations due to fire, leading to costly reshoots.
- Cohen recruited experienced crew members from the Academy Awards to help execute the sequence, describing the project as his most ambitious film and likening it to his version of the Avengers.
- Ali G: Who Iz I? features Baron Cohen reprising his iconic character Ali G, alongside two other roles, and follows Ali G’s journey across the U.S. after learning his girlfriend is eight months pregnant.
- The film is set to be released in theaters on October 23, marking the return of the satirical character after years away from the spotlight.
