Versatile comedian
Sacha Baron Cohen is reportedly circling a U.S. remake of the mega-popular
Torrente film franchise from Spain, an outrageous parody series created and portrayed by Latin funnyman
Santiago Segura. In the lucrative series, Segura plays an overweight, corrupt and racist cop who despite having being fired from the force - continues to patrol the streets, similar I guess to the third act of
Observe & Report where the deluded Seth Rogen continues to patrol the mall he no longer works for, believing in serving out his own twisted sense of justice. The Spanish series hits the fourth movie next year, and I guess it was only matter of time until Hollywood came calling to put it's own stamp on this outrageous anti-hero. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulJSg4GYbBE Sacha Baron Cohen, who probably sees much similarities in performer Segura as a fellow comedian who also transforms himself into gross-out, deluded characters, has met with New Line several times for the remake and it could be a starring vehicle to be shot late 2011. Presumably the film will retain it's Spanish setting? Cohen is currently working on Martin Scorsese's
Hugo Cabaret, before he then shoots
The Dictator at Paramount (where he plays a foreign dictator who gets lost in the U.S.) - the latter of which is incidentally written by the same three guys as the Torrente remake - former
Seinfeld scribes
Alec Berg, Jeff Schaffer and
David Mandel. The film very much sounds like a Cohen vehicle, much more in the comfort zone for the
Borat and
Bruno performer over the more challenging
Peter Morgan written
Freddie Mercury biopic which has sadly died down since it was first announced.