throw the rich Jew down the well

Striking while the iron is hot—or before it fizzles—Sacha Baron Cohen makes a deal with Universal to “continue to taunt Middle America with naive-foreigner characters” (according to Defamer). This time he’ll star as Bruno, the gay Austrian haidresser:

Today, they follow up with news that Universal won the Bruno sweepstakes with their $42.5 million offer [for worldwide distribution], 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.