Ali G Sequel Meets Cinema Boycott Campaign as UK Chain Picturehouse Opts Out
A watchdog campaign has sent more than 40,000 emails urging cinemas worldwide to refuse to screen Ali G: Who Iz I?, the new Sacha Baron Cohen comedy from Amazon MGM Studios, and at least one UK chain has already said no. Picturehouse Cinemas told the campaign it is not planning to screen the film, which is scheduled to reach cinemas on 23 October 2026 (Deadline, 29 August 2026).
The trailer for the mockumentary sequel dropped on 25 August 2026 (Variety, 25 August 2026). Amazon MGM Studios released it; Sony Pictures UK is handling the film's distribution in Britain with the tagline "He iz back. We ain't liable," according to the campaign site NewsCord (NewsCord).
NewsCord, a British news comparison site, launched the email drive calling on at least 15 cinema chains around the world to leave the film off their screens. Its campaign page, aimed at UK chains in particular, argues that booking a film is a choice and that the screens belong to the chains (Deadline, 29 August 2026). In a post on X, NewsCord stated that Ali G is "a cover to laugh at Jamaican culture" and enforces harmful stereotypes of how a Jamaican man behaves in society (NewsCord on X).
The character dates back to 1998, when Baron Cohen created Ali G for Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show, playing a British suburbanite imitating urban British Jamaican culture. The sketch series Da Ali G Show ran on Channel 4 and HBO from 2000 to 2004. The first feature film, Ali G Indahouse, was released by Universal Pictures in 2002. Baron Cohen temporarily retired the character in 2007 (Deadline, 29 August 2026).
Now the character is back, and the trailer has revived a decades-old argument over Baron Cohen's satire, with campaigners pushing cinemas to refuse the booking (bdnews24, 29 August 2026; Variety, 28 August 2026). The film is a mockumentary — a fictional story shot in the style of a documentary, a format Baron Cohen has used across his career to place invented characters alongside real people.
For Amazon MGM, the boycott lands before the film has reached a single screen. The studio has not publicly responded to the campaign. Sony Pictures UK, which is selling the film to British exhibitors, has also not commented. Picturehouse's decision not to book the film, reported by Deadline on 29 August, is the first confirmed instance of a chain acting on the campaign's calls.
The 23 October release date places Ali G: Who Iz I? in the autumn corridor, a window studios often target for comedies and counter-programming. Whether other chains follow Picturehouse's lead will shape the film's UK footprint — and test how far a coordinated email campaign can reach into booking decisions normally made between distributors and exhibitors in private.
