Sacha Baron Cohen to play Saddam Hussein in “The Dictator”

(HMG Celebrity News) – British comic Sacha Baron Cohen famed for his parody movies, will star in “The Dictator,” as Saddam Hussein which is scheduled for release in May 2012, Paramount Pictures said Thursday. “Seinfeld” veteran Larry Charles, who directed Baron Cohen in “Bruno” and “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” will direct once again.  Baron Cohen wrote the script along with Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer and David Mandel, who are also “Seinfeld” alumni.

“The Dictator” is inspired by a book the former Iraqi leader himself wrote, titled “Zabibah and The King.”

According to an official 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.”

Baron Cohen is also slated to play Freddie Mercury in a biopic about the late Queen singer.