Sacha Baron Cohen Confirmed as Pirelli in Sweeney Todd Film

Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen has signed on to play rival barber Pirelli in Tim Burton's forthcoming film version of Sweeney Todd. The movie, starring Johnny Depp in the title role and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, is set to begin filming next month for release in late 2007. Screenwriter and former playwright John Logan wrote the script for the film version of the Stephen Sondheim classic.

Cohen, the London-born star of TV's Da Ali G Show, is currently starring in Borat, which took in $67 million in its first two weeks of release. In the largely improvised film, Cohen plays a hilariously racist and sexist citizen of Kazakhstan who travels around America interacting with ordinary people who have no idea that they are part of an elaborate joke. Cohen has reportedly signed on to create a movie around another of his Ali G Show characters, Austrian fashion reporter Bruno. He had a featured role as French racecar driver Jean Girard in the summer hit Talladega Nights and voiced the role of Julien in two Madagascar animated films.