Bruno cut for under-18 audiences

UK cinema-goers are to be presented with two alternative versions of hit comedy film Bruno from Friday, 24 July.

A 15-rated edit of the movie will be distributed alongside the original cut, which has an 18 certificate.

It is the first time different versions of a film have been released in the UK at the same time.

Universal Pictures said it had re-cut the film after cinemas reported turning away large numbers of teenagers during the opening weekend.

Only 1 minute 50 seconds had been lost from the original, it said.

Sacha Baron Cohen's mock documentary went straight to number one in the US this weekend. It is expected to achieve a similar feat in the UK, despite its restrictive certificate.

Universal said the movie had taken an estimated £5m at the UK and Ireland box office since it opened on 12 July.

If that figure is verified, Bruno will have achieved the biggest opening weekend of all time for an 18-rated film.

Cuts

Centred around an Austrian fashion TV reporter, the film sees Baron Cohen stage a variety of audacious, and often explicit, encounters with the public.

It has already survived several encounters with the editor's scalpel.

Some scenes were shaved in the US to stop the film being given a restrictive NC-17 rating, which would have banned anyone under the age of 17 from seeing it.

And, shortly before release, a scene involving Michael Jackson's sister La Toya was removed "out of respect" for the Jackson family.

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