Though The Dictator might not quite have been the Borat-matching delight we’d hoped for, it did solid business for Paramount, taking in $175 million worldwide. So the studio is looking to keep him in the fold, setting up another project for him to adapt a strange true story into a new comedy called The Lesbian.
The new film will be inspired by Cecil Chao, who made world headlines when the rich Hong Kong tycoon offered $65 million to anyone who could win the heart of his daughter and convince her to marry them.
It already sounds daunting, but then you factor in the slightly important point that Gigi Chao is gay, and had already eloped with her partner to France, with reports that a French church had blessed her relationship. Despite the slightly sleazy nature of the offer, Gigi is apparently still on good terms with her playboy pop, who has never married.
This is the second project that Baron Cohen has set up at Paramount, following the Bond spoof he’s been working on with Cedar Rapids writer Phil Johnston. Right now, The Lesbian doesn’t have a script or anyone to write, but if he likes the result, Baron Cohen will likely star.
As for confirmed film work, he’ll next show up singing in Les Misérables, which arrives on January 11.