Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Russia won't let local cinemas show ``Borat,'' a spoof movie depicting a misogynist, anti-Semitic, homophobic reporter from Kazakhstan, over concern the film may offend people from its ex-Soviet neighbor.

``We decided not to grant this film a cinema license because there are moments in the film which could offend some viewers' religious or national sensibilities,'' Yuri Vasyuchkov, head of the film licensing department at Russia's Moscow-based Federal Culture and Cinematography Agency, said today by phone.

News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox shelved plans to release Borat on Nov. 30 in 300 cinemas across Russia, the company's local publicity manager, Denis Petroff, said by telephone.

The movie, whose full title is Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, opened as the No. 1 film in the U.S. this past weekend, taking in an estimated $26.4 million in ticket sales.

The comedy portrays Kazakhstan as a country where people drink horse urine and whose national pastimes include rape, incest and shooting dogs. The creation of British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat caused outrage amongst Kazakh officials when he first appeared in the television series ``Da Ali G Show,'' with some even suggesting he was part of a larger political plot against Kazakhstan.

Some 51,945 Kazakhs migrated to Russia last year, about 29 percent of all immigrants and more than from any other country, according to the Federal Service of State Statistics.

Kazakhstan Less Critical

Kazakhstan, which borders Russia, has recently tempered its criticism of Borat, with the Kazakh Ambassador to the U.K., Erlan Idrissov, saying the movie was funny in parts and that film had ``placed Kazakhstan on the map.'' Idrissov wrote an open letter to the Times of London after viewing the film.

``I have not heard of any request from the Russian or Kazakh government to ban this film,'' Vasyuchkov said. ``It is rare to ban a film, it happens once every one or two years.''

``Borat,'' filmed in a documentary style, features Cohen as Kazakh news reporter Borat Sagdiyev as he interacts with real Americans. The film, released in 837 theaters, had the highest per-screen average among this week's top 10 new releases with $31,511 in sales.

Its total weekend receipts were the highest on record for a movie shown on fewer than 1,100 screens, according to Brandon Gray, president of BoxOfficeMojo LLC, a Web site and box-office reporting service in Burbank, California.

The Motion Picture Association of America classifies the film as ``restricted'' for ``pervasive strong crude and sexual content including graphic nudity, and language,'' according to the association's Web site.

The rating means that children under the age of 17 must be accompanied by an adult to see the movie.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hannah Gardner in Moscow at hgardner3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 9, 2006 10:03 EST