Sacha Baron Cohen’s Secret Ali G Movie Sets Fall Release

Sacha Baron Cohen is ready to bring back Ali G to get a little respect. Amazon MGM Studios announced Wednesday that it will release Ali G: Who Iz I? in theaters Oct. 23. Plot details have not yet been shared. The movie will mark Cohen’s directorial feature debut. The star, who most recently starred in this year’s Netflix comedy Ladies First, has been working on the project on and off for the past few years, shooting it in various cities. Word started trickling out in recent weeks that Cohen had wrapped production on the secret Ali G project, which was followed by Cohen appearing in character as Ali G at the 2026 Wimbledon finals earlier this month. In a video filmed from the crowd and posted to social media, the character explained that tennis “is like a crap version of ping-pong.” In the late 1990s, Cohen debuted the satirical character as a hip-hop journalist known for his bravado and London street slang. Cohen played the role on sketch comedy series Da Ali G Show, which aired on Channel 4 in the U.K. before making its way stateside via HBO. Ali G was known for unscripted interviews that would involve asking awkward questions to public figures like Donald Trump who were not in on the joke. Ali G made his big-screen debut with director Mark Mylod’s 2002 feature Ali G Indahouse. Da Ali G Show also featured Cohen’s characters Borat Sagdiyev and Brüno Gehard, who would both go on to lead their own movies. Borat made his big-screen debut in 2006 with Larry Charles’ acclaimed film Borat and returned in 2020 with Oscar-winning sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Meanwhile, Charles helmed the 2009 movie Brüno. More to come. THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day Subscribe Sign Up