Ayman Abu Aita appears in Sacha Baron Cohen’s newest movie Bruno – see clip above – as a terrorist group leader.  And Aita is really mad about that depiction.  “[Baron Cohen] said this was a film going to help the Palestinian cause.  When I heard (four days ago) what this film was about I really didn’t believe it.”

Last week Cohen went on Late Show With David Letterman and explained how he tracked down a terrorist and met him at an undisclosed location to interview for his movie.  Aita called SBC a “big liar” after hearing Cohen’s account and is preparing a lawsuit against the actor who “make me big damages.”  Clip of Cohen on Letterman is after the jump.

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I saw Bruno last night in New York City. Since it’s an 88-minute movie, it was showing about every 45 minutes in damn near every theater in Manhattan. We had hoped to go to the 9:05 showing, but that was sold out, in addition to the 9:45 and the 10:05. We managed to get tickets for the 10:25, in a theater the size of a small basketball stadium. Which was packed. The audience was screaming with laughter the entire time. Throughout the movie, I just kept turning to my friends and saying “Oh my God.” Those were the only words I had. That and “Oh no.”

So it’s no surprise that the film topped the box office this weekend, although I’m a little surprised to hear it only brought in $30.4M, with only $9M of that on Saturday (a 37% drop from Friday’s numbers). I was expecting larger numbers, but I guess I forgot that the whole world isn’t exactly as open-minded as the Lower East Side. I’m sure once word got out about some of the more, uh, explicit moments in the film (I won’t give away details), people in other parts of the country decided to give the film a pass.

Still, it’s exceeding studio predictions, and it’s on track to do better than Borat. Congrats, Sacha.

Pictures from today’s Bruno photocall in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany.

What scares me more than Sacha’s thong is the fact that the other two models don’t have one on.

As a side note, posing as a pig with a knit penis is pretty much the only time it’s acceptable to wear pink Ugg boots.

Sacha Baron Cohen’s Bruno doesn’t open in the US until July, but it premiered yesterday in London. Despite all the buzz about whether or not the film fairly represented the gay community (uhhhh, I’m gonna go with “no,” because it’s a satire, guys), the early reviews are, I imagine, exactly what Sacha was hoping they’d be.

There’s this, from the BBC:

“Sometimes you question whether he has finally crossed the line into offensive bad taste – and, latterly, whether you were right to laugh at it – but the audience all seemed to guffaw and groan in the right places. They even gasped in horror when they were supposed to.”

And this, from The Sun:

“And here lies a warning — the pygmy sex scene is one of the most horrific incidents ever committed to celluloid. I’m talking fire extinguishers, champagne bottles and mechanically adapted fitness equipment. Teenage boys should under no circumstances watch this with their parents.”

Ooooh, you guys!!! I am SEEING THIS ON OPENING NIGHT. That is, if I can’t talk someone into getting me into a critic’s screening even earlier than that.

I just think it looks hilarious. This movie is going to promote itself just fine via word-of-mouth, but Sacha Baron Cohen isn’t taking any chances. Bruno opens July 10, and he’s going to spend every last minute up until then promoting the hell out of this thing — like with this brilliant GQ photo shoot. I can’t remember the last time I laughed out loud at a photo shoot. Oh, wait, yes I can: It was when Lindsay Lohan did the Fornarina shoot.