Capitalist satire from Michael Winterbottom

Sacha Baron Cohen is to play an immoral billionaire businessman in his next movie.

Greed is said to be a satirical take on the world of the super-rich, and will be directed by Michael Winterbottom.

The director has previously worked with Steve Coogan on The Trip and 24 Hour Party People – as well as helming Russell Brand’s anti-capitalist polemic The Emperor’s New Clothes last year.

Details of the new movie are thin on the ground, but Hollywood website Deadline reports that Baron Cohen will play a ‘cut-throat retail billionaire’ – perhaps akin to former BHS chief Sir Philip Green.

The site said: ‘It’s believed to be a role inspired by the lavish lifestyles of the elite, perma-tanned billionaire businessmen who shamelessly invest money into offshore tax havens, a parody of the unacceptable face of capitalism.’

Baron Cohen is also working on an English-language remake of the hit Danish comedy Klown, about around 'wildly inappropriate' friends running amok through the countryside – with a 12-year-old in tow.

Last week, his film Grimsby was  named one of the top ten box-office flops of the year, having taken just $3.3 million on its opening weekend in the States.

Published: 1 Dec 2016