Sacha Baron Cohen to play Sherlock Holmes

Sacha Baron Cohen, best known for his characters Ali G and Borat, is to play Sherlock Holmes in a forthcoming comedy film.

Cohen will play Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous sleuth in the as of yet untitled Columbia Pictures production, with Will Ferrell playing his sidekick Doctor Watson. Etan Cohen (no relation), who is also writing the script to Steve Coogan's film Tropic Thunder, is currently penning the new movie.

The film is being seen as a rival to the more serious Sherlock Holmes drama currently being made by Warner Brothers. Columbia's Matt Tolmach said: "Just the idea of Sacha and Will as Sherlock Holmes and Watson makes us laugh. Sacha and Will are two of the funniest and most talented guys on the planet, and having them take on these two iconic characters is frankly hilarious."

Baron Cohen is currently in the middle of making a film based on his homosexual Austrian fashion reporter Bruno (pictured). The movie is entitled Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt. It is currently slated for release on the 15th May 2009.