Phew, I’m glad someone is finally spoofing secret agents! Variety reports that Paramount Pictures have bought a pitch for a new spy spoof from comedy star Sacha Baron Cohen and writer Phil Johnston. The movie will follow a spy who has to go on the run with his long-lost soccer hooligan brother. The spy in question is said to resemble a certain martini-loving British agent who makes his return to the silver screen in November, but will obviously not be him because Paramount doesn’t own the rights.
Now armed with a low six-figure sum from the studio, Cohen and Johnston will now set out to write the script and like the Variety article also states, don’t be surprised if Cohen either stars or co-stars in the movie given his track record. Johnston’s next movie, the animated ode to video games Wreck-It Ralph, is due to bow this November while Cohen will appear the next month in the Tom Hooper-directed adaptation of the musical Les Miserables.
Between Spy Hard, Johnny English, Clive Owen’s extended cameo in 2006’s The Pink Panther, and the Austin Powers trilogy, spoofing James Bond and secret agents as a whole has already been done to death. But given the talent involved, I think this one is worth keeping an eye on. Yes, Cohen stumbled massively with The Dictator but he’s still one of the best comedic actors/writers working today and Johnston is no slouch in the department either (he wrote 2011’s Cedar Rapids, which I rather liked). And with Wreck-It Ralph looking better and better as the months go by, it’s even more reason to get a little excited.
Do you want to see another spy spoof/parody/comedy?