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.
This is the project that was first disclosed last April, when the former Seinfeld writers Berg Schaffer and Mandel went around town with Baron Cohen to pitch it. We knew Baron Cohen was going to play dual roles of a dictator and a goat herder, but now there's a brief summary:
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.”
Producing together with Baron Cohen are Scott Rudin, Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer, and David Mandel. The project marks the first collaboration for Rudin (The Social Network, True Grit) and Baron Cohen, while Berg, Schaffer and Mandel (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm) enroll him as screenwriters on the movie. The movie is the latest teamwork between Baron Cohen and Charles, who previously worked together on “Borat” as well as “Bruno.” Dan Mazer (“Borat,” “Bruno”), Ant Hines (“Borat,” “Bruno”) and Peter Baynham (“Borat”) will perform as executive producers, rejoining the rest of the Academy Award nominated and Golden Globe winning “Borat” team. Todd Schulman (“Borat,” “Bruno”) is co-producing under Baron Cohen's Four By Two Films banner.
Larry Charles, Sacha Baron Cohen and David Mandel are repped by WME. Dan Mazer, Alec Berg and Jeff Schaffer are repped by UTA. Four studios pursued the project when it was first shopped, but when it got down to two studios, Paramount made its serious intentions known by dispatching two goats (wearing Paramount logo T-shorts) to visit both Baron Cohen and his WME reps. The studio won the deal by committing to make the movie (and paying Baron Cohen $20 million). Even though, the picture is budgeted at $58 million and Paramount executives love the script.
