On Friday, THR brought word of a multistudio bidding war for the worldwide distribution rights to Sacha Baron Cohen's next movie, Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt, an auction obviously timed to maximize the comedian's take before Borat's upcoming, scaled-back release could threaten a market correction for his guerrilla filmmaking services. Today, they follow up with news that Universal won the Bruno sweepstakes with their $42.5 million offer, which they note covers the film's budget and features a "significant backend component," subtle contractual language that we suspect Cohen himself required be included in any report of his agency's eight-figure buggering of the studio. With this deal completed and his considerable Borat promotional responsibilities dispensed of, Cohen can soon begin the crucial work of devising ways to goad Bruno's homeland into a prolonged public war intended to dispel the notion that Austria's population is wholly comprised of neon-mohawked, fashion-obsessed television hosts preoccupied with sexually menacing American college football teams.

• Uni's $42.5 mil wins 'Bruno' auction [THR]
• Previously: Sacha Baron Cohen Hoping To Cash In On 'Bruno' Before Kazakh-Lash Hurts 'Borat' [Defamer]

Contact information for this author is not available.