• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sacha Baron Cohen to play Saddam Hussein

Switch

Switch

Captain
The Age
Baron Cohen, 39, will star in a Hollywood adaptation of Zabibah and the King, the tender tale of a wise and good Iraqi leader who falls in love with a humble peasant girl. Re-titled The Dictator, the Paramount-backed production will be overseen by Larry Charles, who directed Baron Cohen on the feature-length Borat and Brüno outings.

Paramount joked in a news release: "The film tells the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed."

Zabibah and the King was published anonymously in 2000, complete with a strapline that promised royalties would go "to the poor, the orphans, the miserable, the needy". It is widely accepted within Iraq that the book was authored by Saddam, although the CIA later concluded that it was probably produced by ghost-writers, acting under direct instruction from the Iraqi leader.

The book charts the chaste love affair between a medieval monarch and the soulful Zabibah, who lives unhappily with her abusive husband. But what appears, at first glance, to be a sweet, simple folk tale actually contains pools of hidden meaning. It was intended to be read as an allegory for Iraq in the years following the first Gulf war, with the king representing Saddam, Zabibah embodying the Iraqi people and her husband standing in for the cruel and evil US forces.
Click to expand...

Should be fun. :techman:
 
Borat, Freddie Mercury and now Saddam Hussein. Apparently there is no end to the fame that can be achieved by donning a preposterous fake moustache.
 
Mr Light said:
This IS going to be a satire/comedy, right?
Click to expand...

:lol:

Yeah, I had to check too. From the press release:

HOLLYWOOD, CA (January 20, 2011) - Paramount Pictures announced today that Sacha Baron Cohen’s new comedy THE DICTATOR will be released worldwide on May 11, 2012. The studio also announced that Larry Charles (“Borat”, “Bruno”) has come aboard to direct.

The film tells the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed. It is inspired by the best selling novel "Zabibah and The King" by Saddam Hussein.
Click to expand...
 
Um, are they actually paying the Hussein Estate for rights to the novel? Even considering the unique circumstances, I'm not sure I'd be okay with it if they didn't.
 
On a serious note. Making fun of Saddam while he was there, as a form of protest, was okay. Making fun of the guy after he got hanged... not so much. Totally pointless.
 
JarodRussell said:
On a serious note. Making fun of Saddam while he was there, as a form of protest, was okay. Making fun of the guy after he got hanged... not so much. Totally pointless.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't assume that Saddam Hussein is the film's primary object of mockery. Because you're right: that's a tough sell. ;)
 
Depends on how it's done.
I was pretty disappointed with how overblown the Borat and Brüno movies were. Throw too much money at stuff from his show and apparently it becomes crap that's geared towards the lowest common denominator. Maybe it's because Ali G is the best character in his repertoire, but it's hard to believe those were done by the same guy who pulled off stuff like this:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P842Tmi6lrc[/yt]
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqZKW1WEVlM[/yt]
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE9neghRfEs[/yt]
 
JarodRussell said:
On a serious note. Making fun of Saddam while he was there, as a form of protest, was okay. Making fun of the guy after he got hanged... not so much. Totally pointless.
Click to expand...


I dunno. Every time I think about Saddam's hanging I laugh. Sacha Baron Cajones performance should be at least that funny.
 
Australis said:
Bizarre is a word that come to mind. It'll be quite good or utterly terrible.
Click to expand...

My guess is terrible, tasteless and utterly hilarious. I'll be there with bells on.

Um, are they actually paying the Hussein Estate for rights to the novel? Even considering the unique circumstances, I'm not sure I'd be okay with it if they didn't.
Click to expand...
They should give some money to the poor drones who ghost-wrote the story for Saddam. But if they don't get a cent, they'll hardly be the first writers who were screwed over by Hollywood. :rommie:

Making fun of the guy after he got hanged... not so much.
Click to expand...
Are you kidding, I want to see the hanging at the end of the movie (and then they should do something stomach-churningly stupid, like have Saddam ascend to heaven on a white horse). The whole point of a movie like this, and the whole point of Sasha Baron Cohen's whole career, is to be as tacky and offensive as possible. Either go whole hog, or don't bother. The minute he starts to back off, he's done. Might as well dig ditches for a living instead.
 
Temis the Vorta said:
Um, are they actually paying the Hussein Estate for rights to the novel? Even considering the unique circumstances, I'm not sure I'd be okay with it if they didn't.
Click to expand...
They should give some money to the poor drones who ghost-wrote the story for Saddam. But if they don't get a cent, they'll hardly be the first writers who were screwed over by Hollywood. :rommie:
Click to expand...
Thanks to Hollywood accounting they'll probably owe the studio money instead.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top