Pages tagged “sacha baron cohen”

Release Date: Nov. 7
Director: Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath
Writer: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath and Ethan Cohen
Starring: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith
Studio/Run Time: 
DreamWorks Animation, 89 mins.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa borrows so much of its plot from The Lion King that it’s fortunate it steers away from the drama of Disney’s film and heads straight for the funnies. After a flashback, where baby Alex the lion is taken away from his family in Africa and rescued by the Central Park Zoo, the film picks up where Madagascar left of, with the four friends—Alex (Ben Stiller), zebra Marty (Chris Rock), giraffe Melman (David Schwimmer) and hippo Gloria (Jada Pinkett Smith)—trying to leave the island. They take off in the carcass of a crashed plane piloted by the quartet of penguins, who again steal the show every time they’re on the screen. Also tagging along are a pair of lemurs, King Julian (Sacha Baron Cohen) and attendant Maurice (Cedric the Entertainer)—in the first-class cabin, of course.

Explain this one to us: Ben Stiller may fill in for Steven Spielberg as director of The Trial of the Chicago 7.

In an accident? Injured and unable to work? In need of an ambulance-chasing comedic lawyer to help defend your rights? Sacha Baron Cohen may fill that role in a new movie, Accidentes, he's signed on to produce for Fox Atomic.

While Sacha Baron Cohen recently announced the retirement of his Borat and Ali G personalities (though Brüno will still likely be coming out in 2008), surely this latest announcement is indicative of the actor's quickly rising star. According to The Sunday Times, Cohen has been announced as a lead in Steven Spielberg's upcoming film The Trial of the Chicago Seven.

Cohen will play Abbie Hoffman, one of the yippies who protested the 1968 Democratic National Committee. Hoffman was particularly outspoken and quite a troublemaker during his time, which seems to lend well to Cohen taking on the role. Aaron Sorkin (most recently of Charlie Wilson's War) is writing the film, which is said to fit in nicely with the darker side of Spielberg's canon.

While Cohen continues to battle legal troubles in the wake of Borat, fans can currently check him out in Sweeney Todd as Signor Adolfo Pirelli.

Related links:
Paste: Aaron Sorkin signs deal with Dreamworks
Steven Spielberg on IMDB
Dreamworks.com

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.

Last year, Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan took the country by storm, earning $260 million worldwide off a tiny budget and producing the highest number of bad comedic impressions since Dave Chappelle went off the air. So it's no surprise that the next film Cohen will star in will be that film's spiritual sequel, based upon another of Cohen's alter-egos, Bruno.

Perhaps more intriguing is the simultaneous announcement that, following the completion of that film, Cohen plans on working on a second project, a remake of Fracis Veber's Le Diner de Cons called Dinner for Schmucks. Jay Roach is involved with both projects, attached to direct Dinner and produce Bruno.

Both films are slated for release in 2008, so you still have a brief respite before the deluge of bad foreign impersonations return.

Related links:
Press release in Variety
Sacha Baron Cohen on IMDB
Interview with Cohen on NPR

Got news tips for Paste? Email news@pastemagazine.com.