‘Borat 2’ Composer Eager to Perform ‘Wuhan Flu’ Song at Oscars If It Lands Nomination
“Borat 2” was a family affair for Sacha and Erran Baron Cohen. The older brother of comedian Sacha, Erran is a composer and trumpet player who created the musical score for the Amazon Prime Video comedy sequel. Being the “Borat 2” composer also meant Erran contributed lyrics to the film’s “Wuhan Flu” singalong sequence, performed by Sacha in disguise at a far-right rally in Washington. It’s now an unexpected Oscar contender for Best Original Song, and Erran is all for performing “Wuhan Flu” on Hollywood’s biggest night.
“I would love to, if we could travel then,” Erran told The Hollywood Reporter. “I think that would be one of the best things that would ever happen at the Oscars. It would make it the most interesting Oscars ceremony ever.
“The issue of course is that it’s a racist song,” the composer added. “It’s highlighting the racism in people. I think we could easily change the lyrics. I think it might be funny to do that and make a special version that was maybe more appropriate. We’ve got eight minutes of stuff already. But times may have changed by then anyway and we might have something else to talk about.”
Sacha and Erran Baron Cohen created an extended “Wuhan Flu” song that runs between eight and nine minutes so that Sacha could perform the song onstage for as long as possible before getting cut off. As performed in the movie, the song includes lyrics about injecting children with the “Wuhan flu” and chopping up any person wearing a mask “like the Saudis do.” Not exactly the kind of material that gets an Oscar showcase.
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” was a reunion project for Sacha and Erran, as the latter also composed the original scores to other Sacha-fronted projects like the original “Borat,” “Bruno,” “The Dictator,” “Grimsby,” and the Showtime comedy series “Who Is America?” As for the controversial scene involving Rudy Giuliani, Erran told THR he decided to go with a more horror-leaning score.
“The discussion we had was that this is a bit like a horror movie where the monster is Rudy’s penis,” Erran said. “It’s a kind of creepy horror movie type sound that I was doing for that. And I think it works.”
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video. Head over to THR’s website to read Erran Baron Cohen’s latest interview in its entirety.
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