Sacha Baron Cohen is not a man to back away from a controversial character on film, although they usually tend to be ones he’s either created himself or had a hand in birthing. Yet according to the LA Times, the comic actor is now pondering the idea of starring in a remake of successful Spanish comedy action franchise Torrente.
Originally dreamt up by comedian Santiago Segura, Jose Luis Torrente is a loose cannon ex-copper fired by his local police force that sees it as his mission to keep patrolling the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, his vision for how he carries out that mission means he gets into all sorts of mad scrapes, gaining a reputation as a corrupt, racist nuisance.
Torrente has become something of a hit in Spain, with the three movies released so far shooting to the top of the box office and a fourth on the way. Naturally, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood took interest and New Line has set up a version with Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer and David Mandel busy working on a script.
Which brings us to Cohen – the writing trio also penned The Dictator, which is the next project that the actor is planning to work on with director Larry Charles. Apparently Cohen has had meetings about Torrente, and has shown some interest in the lead role, but has yet to make his mind up. It's not like he doesn't have other options bubbling away...