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Borat, Bruno Star Now Wants To Tackle Playing Saddam Hussein

LOS ANGELES (AP) —  As if his portrayals of Borat and Bruno weren't outrageous enough, Sacha Baron Cohen's next role will be playing Saddam Hussein.

The British comic will star in and co-write "The Dictator," which is scheduled for release in May 2012, Paramount Pictures said Thursday. 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.

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

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."

(© Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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