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News > Baron Cohen to Play Abbie Hoffman for Spielberg

Written by David Morgan

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen has signed on to play counterculture icon and Vietnam War protester Abbie Hoffman in Steven Spielberg's The Trial of the Chicago Seven. The Times doesn't say for certain whether Spielberg is actually directing the film (as opposed to only producing), but apparently Aaron Sorkin has penned the screenplay, so this should be an interesting confluence of talent. Sorkin knows how to write witty political dialogue, Baron Cohen knows how to deliver a message and play a prank, and Spielberg certainly knows how to run a camera.

A great portion of the film concerns the actual trial itself, in which Hoffman and six other protesters were tried on charges of inciting a riot in which police and demonstrators alike were harmed (via bricks and tear gas, respectively).