Sacha Baron Cohen Eyes Role in 'Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass'

The fifth Pirates of the Caribbean may be on hold and Johnny Depp isn't likely to be Doctor Strange, but the sequel to Alice in Wonderland is definitely still happening as Disney looks to continue the $1B franchise. With Depp expected to return as the Mad Hatter and Mia Wasikowska in the title role, it looks like the multi-talented Sacha Baron Cohen may be going down the rabbit hole.

According to Variety, Cohen is in talks to play the villain in Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass, to be directed by James Bobin rather than Tim Burton. Cohen and Depp worked together previously on Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Linda Woolverton is back to pen the story which is being kept under wrap, but hopefully it gives Cohen the chance to show off his musical and comedy skills.

Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass is expected to open on May 27th 2016.

Read More

Louis Leterrier to Direct Sacha Baron Cohen Spy Comedy, 'Grimsby'

After starting his career directing the first two Transporter flicks and the Jet Li actioner Unleashed (all for Luc Besson), Louis Leterrier went the blockbuster route and has pretty much stayed there. He played in the Marvel sandbox for The Incredible Hulk, followed by Clash of the Titans, and then he was at the helm for this summer's surprise smash Now You See Me, and while a sequel to that is in the works, it looks like he'll take on a comedy first.

Leterrier has agreed to direct Grimsby, the spy comedy from Sacha Baron Cohen revealed last year. Cohen will star and co-write the script with Phil Johnston (Cedar Rapids), with the story following a Black Ops agent who must go on the run with his dim-witted brother, an English soccer hooligan. While there's no word on Cohen's role it's expected he'll play one of the brothers, and I'm thinking it's possible he'll play both.

No word on when shooting could begin but with Leterrier "aggressively pursuing" the job it likely won't interfere with Now You See Me 2. [Variety]

Read More

Imogen Poots Joins 'Squirrel to the Nuts'; Sacha Baron Cohen Exits Freddie Mercury Biopic

* Although he hasn't had a feature film since 2001's The Cat's Meow, Peter Bogdanovich is still facing a lot of trouble in putting together his latest film, the screwball comedy Squirrel to the Nuts (or She's Funny That Way). With Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach producing, everything seemed to be on the right track with Owen Wilson and Brie Larson starring, but now the latter has dropped out for unknown reasons, only to be replaced by Fright Night and Need for Speed star, Imogen Poots. Wilson plays an married Broadway director, with Poots as the prostitute-turned-actress who gets a career boost when he becomes smitten with her. Jennifer Aniston, Richard Lewis, and Cybil Shepard co-star, with production currently underway in New York. [TheWrap]

* The long-developing Freddie Mercury biopic Sacha Baron Cohen has been attached to has hit a major stumbling block, as the actor has dropped out of the film after a dispute with Queen. The legendary rock band Mercury was the frontman for has the final say on the approach taken with the film, and they wanted a PG-rated version that centered on the band, whereas Cohen was looking for a gritty, adult take centered on the rocker. Without Cohen on board it's tough to imagine who else would be open to taking the role, and share the obvious physical similarities. The project was still a long ways off, anyhow, as a director had yet to be found. David Fincher, Stephen Frears, and Tom Hooper's names had surfaced to helm, with Peter Morgan (The Queen) presumably still on board to pen the script. [Deadline]

Read More

Tom Hooper could direct Sacha Baron Cohen in Freddie Mercury biopic

It's been a couple of years since we started to hear about Sacha Baron Cohen starring in a biopic on Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury. Written by Frost/Nixon scribe Peter Morgan, the film has been kicking around ever since without a director. Stephen Frears was said to be the top contender just last year, but now Deadline hears that Cohen's Les Miserables director, Tom Hooper, may take on the job.

Hooper obviously knows Cohen's vocal talent, so this could be a perfect match. No offers have been made yet, but it would be interesting to see if Hooper has him perform the songs live on set as in Les Miserables. The story is said to begin in 1970 during Queen's formation, then conclude around 1985's Live Aid concert. Mercury would soon after be diagnosed with AIDS, succumbing to the disease in 1991.

The plan by producers seems to be to find U.K. directors for the project, which is probably a smart move in chronicling the London performer's career.

Read More

Sacha Baron Cohen to produce and maybe star in 'The Lesbian'

Have you been keeping up with your Yahoo! News updates lately? If so, then you might have heard the story of Cecil Chao Sze-Tsung, the Hong Kong billionaire who offered the hefty sum of $65M to any man who could woo away his lesbian daughter from her female lover. Crazy, right? Ripe for a raunchy and likely insulting big screen treatment? Absolutely, and Sacha Baron Cohen is just the guy to make it happen.

Cohen has struck a deal with Paramount to develop a comedy version of the story, currently titled The Lesbian. Yep, count me in for this one already. Right now, Cohen is only producing but there's a chance he could star as the pig-headed billionaire, who apparently is still on decent terms with his daughter even after this fiasco. I'd much rather see Cohen as one of the daughter's many male suitors, or maybe as part of the French church that blessed her relationship.

Yeah, I can see plenty of angles in which Cohen could offend a lot of different groups.We're probably still a long way from seeing this happen as a writer hasn't been found yet, but I like the sound of this already. [Deadline]

Read More

Sure Shots: Sacha Baron Cohen; Jennifer Lawrence; George Nolfi

* The Dictator may not have been Sacha Baron Cohen's biggest hit, but the political comedy did well enough to convince Paramount Pictures to stay in the Cohen business. You might recall around 2008 there was talk of Cohen and Will Ferrell teaming up on a Judd Apatow-produced Sherlock Holmes film. That never came to pass, but it makes me wonder if  Cohen is taking elements of that for his next film, a pitch he has sold to the studio for a spy comedy, in which a secret agent must team up with his moronic long-lost brother, who turns out to be some sort of soccer hooligan. Cohen and Phil Johnston(Wreck-It-Ralph) came up with the pitch, but right now there's no word if Cohen will act in it. Of course he will, though, likely playing one or both of the brothers. It's being looked at as something of a James Bond parody, which to me screams Cohen making fun of our friends across the pond, and likely mixing in some of his trademark political jabs as well. [Variety]

* The Weinstein Company loves them some Jennifer Lawrence, and who can really blame them? She's already the head of two mega-blockbusters, and has David O. Russell's The Silver Linings Playbook on the way in a few months. Now the studio has picked up the rights to The End of the Earth, a romantic drama based on the true story of Lydie Marland and her adopted father, oil tycoon Ernest Marland. When Ernest's wife passed away, he had the adoption annulled and married the then 28-year Lydie, leading to much controversy and business turmoil. Chris Terrio(Argo) wrote the script, and a summer 2013 start date is being looked at, which would just fit into Lawrence's busy schedule. I smell Oscar all over this one.

* I'm a big fan of George Nolfi, both for his work on The Bourne Ultimatum and The Adjustment Bureau, so I've been hoping he'd land something juicy to follow his hot streak. After missing out on the Captain America 2 directing gig, he's now taking on One Minute to Midnight, an adaptation of Michael Dobbs' book about just how close how we came to nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Excuse me, but I prefer my historical nuclear war flicks to involve high flying super-powered mutants, thank you. [THR]

Read More

'The Dictator' advance screening!

Prepare to bow down to the Supreme Leader, All Triumphant General Aladeen in Sacha Baron's hilarious new comedy, The Dictator! We're offering you a chance to see the film before it opens with an upcoming advance screening held this coming Thursday May 10th at AMC Mazza at 7:00pm! To qualify, you MUST be a fan of Punch Drunk Critics on Facebook. To enter, simply leave a comment here with your name and email address, and you will receive a unique Gofobo code to download up to two passes for the event. Due to the shortened length of this contest, we'll be accepting entries up until 11:59pm on May 9th. Enter now! Jacknuhn!!!

Read More

Sure Shots: Rashida Jones; Sharlto Copley; Timur Bekmambetov

* As if Cuban Fury couldn't get any better, the Nick Frost/Chris O'Dowd salsa dancing comedy has just added Rashida Jones(I Love You, Man) and Olivia Colman(Tyrannosaur) to the cast. Frost will play a former salsa prodigy who loses his passion for it, but hopes to reignite it in order to impress his attractive American boss. O'Dowd will play his bitter rival, and while it's not spelled out by THR, I'm guessing Jones will play the boss. We'll find out soon enough.

* Make it three big time projects for Sharlto Copley this week alone. After recently joining Spike Lee's Oldboy remake, and the thriller Open Grave, he'll now jump into a blockbuster starring the most famous actress in the world. Deadline reports he'll play King Stefan in Maleficent, the live-action Sleeping Beauty adaptation seen from the evil fairy's perspective. Robert Stromberg is directing, based on a script by Disney vet, Linda Woolverton(Beauty and the Beast).

* Russian special effects wiz, Timur Bekmambetov(Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), is attached to direct The Current War, a historic flick based on a Black List script by Michael Mitnick. The story doesn't exactly sound like typical Bekmambetov, as it deals with Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse's race to complete the first stable electric current. Riveting!! Well, it may be, but for now it sounds like epic boredom. Sacha Baron Cohen is reportedly interested in playing Edison, which would be interesting to say the least. No offers have been made, however. [Variety]

Read More

Sacha Baron Cohen lands a key role in Django Unchained

Yeah, you read that right. Borat and Quentin Tarantino. Together at last. It might seem a little strange to think that the guy who gave us Bruno(still trying to forget that) would be a fit for filmmaker the caliber of Tarantino, but Cohen recently worked with Martin Scorsese on Hugo. After that he can probably pull off anything he wants, including being a key cog in Django Unchained.

Variety reports Cohen will take on the role of Scotty Harmony in the spaghetti western, one of the last major roles left to be cast. Scotty is a gambler who purchases Django's wife, Broomhilda(Kerry Washington). In an early version of the script, Scotty gets the slave to be his female companion. I suspect this would've been the part Jonah Hill would have played if he had taken Tarantino's offer. While Scotty's role is small, it's said to be crucial to the plot, so I'm wondering how much of it has been retooled during the latest rewrites. Any chance Cohen will be able to do what he does best and ad lib a little bit?

Django Unchained will open next year on Christmas Day, which gives you plenty to time to imagine how the credits will look when these names roll across: Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, Kerry Washington, Dennis Christopher, Kurt Russell, Laura Cayouette, Don Johnson, M.C. Gainey, Tom Savini, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anthony LaPaglia, RZA, Misty Upham, Tom Wopat, James Remar, James Russo, Todd Allen and Rex Linn. And maybe...MAYBE...Michael K. Williams(The Wire). Fingers still crossed.

Read More