Bringing some much-needed gravitas to go with all the goats, Ben Kingsley has signed on to Sacha Baron Cohen’s The Dictator, playing one of two Middle Eastern characters who somehow factor into a plot that concerns Cohen as both a humble shepherd and a loveable despot who gets lost in America. The League’s Jason Mantzoukas is reportedly in contention for the other Middle Easterner, while the current short list for the female lead—the supermarket worker who is no doubt baffled by then slowly warms to Cohen’s antics—includes Kristen Wiig, Anna Faris, and Community’s Gillian Jacobs. This is actually Kingsley and Cohen’s second film together, as the two recently completed work on Martin Scorsese’s Hugo Cabret. Next stop: A Hope-Crosby-style Road picture.
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