Bruno Gets a Date: The release of Sacha Baron Cohen’s sort-of sequel to Borat has been pushed back from May 10 to July 15. Practically speaking, this means that he’s got another two months to plot and pull a massive cinematic prank, which certainly strikes fear in the hearts of Southerners and fashionistas alike. [Variety]
Sexual Advancements: Finally! The world’s first-ever erotic 3-D movie, the appropriately titled 3D Sex and Zen, will begin production in April. Hong Kong producer Stephen Shiu Jr. will make the film — adorably, it’s a sequel to his father’s 1991 film Sex and Zen — on a budget of $3.9 million (wow, really? not bad) with Japanese and Taiwanese actresses. We can only assume that Cinemax is now working out details of making 3-D glasses available with channel subscription. [Variety]
Perhaps Fabulous: Fox has picked up the pilot for the American remake of beloved British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, which revolves around the lives of best friends and co-drunkards Edina and Patsy. Jennifer Saunders, the original Edina and a writer on the show, has signed on as an executive producer along with Mitch Hurwitz and a few others, so this may yet prove to not be a total abomination. [Variety]
Squiggly375 Loves the Pope: Again, finally! The Vatican has launched its own YouTube channel at youtube.com/vaticanit, which will feature messages from Pope Benedict XVI (and, presumably, eventually some awesome behind-the-scenes and on-the-road stuff). Also, the Pope has apparently praised the internet as a “gift to humanity,†singling out in particular social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, although he is kind of upset that his Eminence the Archbishop of Chicago Cardinal George hasn’t poked him back yet. [Variety]
Signs of Life: Openings are actually being announced on Broadway: Roundabout Theater Company is bringing back Bye Bye Birdie and After Miss Julie in the fall (the latter starring noted thespian Sienna Miller) and the Noel Coward company Present Laughter in the winter of the 2009–10 season. No actual theaters have been confirmed, so this whole “new plays on Broadway†thing may still be a total hoax. [Variety]
MTV Mexico: MTV is attempting to push the degradation of its once proud franchise to new heights: The upcoming season of The Real World will be shot in Cancun. In case you’re hoping this won’t be what it sounds like, no, it will be exactly what it sounds like: The cast will work as guides for spring-break students and, says co-creator Jonathan Murray, “might have to bail somebody out of a Mexican jail, stuff like that.†We feel icky already. [Variety]