The bumbling English spy character did wonders for Mike Myers’ career (Austin Powers), and to a lesser extent Rowan Atkinson’s (Johnny English). Now, comedy actor and virtuoso prankster Sacha Baron Cohen is set to enter the world of English espionage in Grimsby, a spy comedy from Clash of the Titans director Louis Leterrier.
Grimsby will find the Borat actor starring as a black ops agent forced to go on the run with his long lost brother, a soccer-loving hooligan. The film will hopefully combine Cohen’s outrageous humour with impressive action set pieces, which Leterrier (who previously directed Transporter 2 and Now You See Me) can definitely pull off.
Cohen hasn’t been seen on the big screen since his role as Thénardier in Les Misérables. Aside from Grimsby, he is also currently developing The Lesbian, a comedy based on a true story about a Hong Kong billionaire who offered $65 million to any man who can woo his gay daughter. Both seem like ideal projects for the former sketch-comedy actor, although it is likely that Cohen will put his focus on Grimsby first, as Variety has reported that he has been meeting frequently with Paramount executives over recent months in order to get the project off the ground.
Though Grimsby might be put off until Leterrier finishes working on the sequel to Now You See Me, the film does have a finished script and is almost ready to roll cameras, so it’s entirely possible that the spy comedy could head into production first.
We’ll keep you posted when we hear more. For now though, tell us, are you excited to see Sacha Baron Cohen teaming up with Louis Letterier?