Borat , a cynical mockumentary featuring a fictional Kazakh reporter asking outrageous questions of real Americans, topped the US and Canadian box office this weekend.
The biting satire, whose full title is Borat: Cultural Learning Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan, raked in $US26.4 million ($A34.1 million) on its debut, after generating widespread publicity through the internet, box office tracker Exhibitor Relations said.
British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, displaying a bushy moustache and a tenuous grasp of English, plays a Kazakh reporter named Borat, a sexist, anti-Semitic buffoon who manages to expose some equally boorish Americans in his journey across the United States.
While Borat received rave reviews from film critics, the government of Kazakhstan has been less enthusiastic and the Anti-Defamation League has raised concerns that Borat's anti-Semitism may not be construed as satire.
The movie opens in Australia on November 23.