Martin Scorsese Casts Sacha Baron Cohen in Kid's Movie

File this one under “Things We Didn’t See Coming.” Martin Scorsese, Paste‘s recently-crowned Best Living Director and master of goofiness, Sacha Baron Cohen, are teaming up for a kid’s movie. According to The Guardian, Scorsese is in talks with Baron Cohen to cast him in his upcoming adaptation of the children’s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick, which won the 2008 Caldecott Medal.

The book, which Selznik said is “not exactly a novel, not quite a picture book, not really a graphic novel, or a flip book or a movie, but a combination of all these things,” was adapted into a screenplay by John Logan. The story centers on a 12-year-old boy living in the walls of a Paris train station during the 1930’s. Baron Cohen would play a station inspector. Scorsese is also looking to cast Ben Kingsley as George Méliès, a famous French filmmaker, who in real life spent the end of his life working as a toy vendor in the Montparnasse train station after he losing his fortune.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ Asa Butterfield will play the main character, and Kick-Ass’ Chloe Moretz will play a young girl who works in the train station at a booth selling toys.

Um, we want to go to there.

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