Sacha Baron Cohen May Reteam With Borat/Bruno Director Larry Charles On 'The Dictator'

We've heard some back and forth about whether Sacha Baron Cohen might do another film with his Borat and Bruno director Larry Charles. (Who, it should be remembered, stepped in to direct Borat when Todd Phillips dropped out after shooting some of the movie.) We'd heard that Mr. Charles might not direct The Dictator, which Sacha Baron Cohen is prepping now. But a new report contradicts earlier info, and it looks like we might have a loose trilogy of films from the duo.

The LA Times reports on the story that Larry Charles will direct The Dictator, citing unnamed sources who claim the film will be Sacha Baron Cohen's next after he finishes shooting Hugo Cabret with Martin Scorsese.

To remind you about the details of The Dictator, it is described as "parallel stories of a goat herder and deposed foreign dictator who gets lost in this country." Prime territory for these two, and then you have to wonder: can anyone make a film called The Dictator and hope to escape the influence of Chaplin? Especially a comedy, and probably a satire, as we'd expect this to be.

Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer, and David Mandel have been reported as writers — they wrote EuroTrip, and all three have Curb Your Enthusiasm experience, as does Larry Charles.

Meanwhile, what about that Queen biopic in which Sacha Baron Cohen was said to be set to play Freddie Mercury? Peter Morgan is just writing that now, so it's a slight ways off. Hoping that still happens, though.