Sacha Baron Cohen to play Saddam Hussein

As if his portrayals of Borat and Bruno weren't outrageous enough, Sacha Baron Cohen's next role will be playing Saddam Hussein.

The British comic will star in and co-write "The Dictator," which is scheduled for release in May 2012, Paramount Pictures said Thursday. Larry Charles, who directed Baron Cohen in "Bruno" and "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," will direct once again. "The Dictator" is inspired by a book the former Iraqi leader himself wrote, titled "Zabibah and The King." Paramount joked in a news release: "The film tells the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed."