Sacha Baron Cohen is dusting off Ali G for a new movie

For those who maybe weren’t around 25 years ago when the character peaked, Cohen made his name on Ali G, a parody of white hip-hop obsessives from the London suburbs, interviewing celebrities on Channel 4’s The 11 O’Clock Show before landing his own series. Much like Borat and Bruno, Cohen used Ali to disarm unsuspecting cultural figures, including Noam Chomsky, Buzz Aldrin, Shaq, C. Everett Koop, Andy Rooney, and even President Donald Trump. With his affected accent, generally circling a Jamaican Patois, and British hip-hop slang, Ali would confuse his interview subjects, tricking them into compromising positions and regretful admissions.

It’s somewhat surprising that he’s reviving the character, considering how long Cohen kept him dormant. Though considering his choice of projects lately, including Balls Up and Ladies First, which earned him the rare distinction of two “D”s from The A.V. Club in less than six weeks, pivoting to what’s worked in the past makes a lot of business sense. Cohen last played the character in 2016 for the 88th Academy Awards. 

This is hardly the first time Cohen took his old costumes out of storage. 2020’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, shot under a shroud of secrecy, too, hit Prime Video at the height of the pandemic and the 2020 presidential election. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay—like the Oscar-nominated first Borat—and Best Supporting Actress for Maria Bakalova, who deserved something for all the time spent with Rudy Giuliani.