Sacha Baron Cohen in Spielberg's 'Seven'

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20168710,00.html

Sacha Baron Cohen in Spielberg's 'Seven'
London's "Sunday Times" reports that Steven Spielberg persuaded the actor to play Vietnam War activist Abbie Hoffman in DreamWorks' "The Trial of the Chicago Seven"
Posted Jan 02, 2008

(FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES) – Sacha Baron Cohen will play 1960s Vietnam War protester Abbie Hoffman for The Trial of the Chicago Seven, a project Steven Spielberg is developing for DreamWorks, according to London's Sunday Times newspaper. Variety reports that reps for Spielberg would neither confirm nor deny the report, which claims that Spielberg persuaded the actor to join the project. The movie tells the story of the seven protesters who were put on trial after disrupting the 1968 Democratic Party convention with a Vietnam War protest, which was met with fierce police resistance. Hoffman was one of the seven who had to fight charges of inciting a riot. DreamWorks worked out a deal with Aaron Sorkin in July to write the script. Spielberg is producing alongside Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald. Baron Cohen is currently in theaters for Sweeney Todd and is working on a movie based on his character Bruno, an Austrian fashion designer. (The Sunday Times)