Amazon MGM Studios has dropped the first trailer for Ali G: Who Iz I? bringing Sacha Baron Cohen’s beloved rude-boy back to cinemas after more than two decades away from the big screen.
The mockumentary, which will land in theatres globally on October 23, sees the three-time Oscar nominee slip back into the role of the swaggering hip-hop poseur he first made famous in the late 1990s.
Mr Cohen, now 54, filmed the project in secret, a method he has employed on previous outings including Borat, Brüno and Who Is America?
The plot has been kept tightly under wraps, with news of the film only surfacing through a leak last month before Tuesday’s official trailer reveal.
A trailer for a new Ali G film has been released
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Ali G first appeared on Channel 4’s The 11 O’Clock Show in 1998, where Mr Cohen developed the character’s distinctive blend of exaggerated bravado, mangled slang and cringe-inducing interviews with unwitting subjects.
The creation proved popular enough to earn its own programme, Da Ali G Show, which ran for a series on Channel 4 before transferring to HBO for two additional seasons.
In 2002, the character made his cinematic debut in Ali G Indahouse, a comedy co-written by and starring Mr Cohen, directed by Mark Mylod, who would later helm episodes of Succession.
That film, however, was a scripted comedy rather than the mockumentary format Mr Cohen subsequently perfected with Borat in 2006, Brüno in 2009 and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm in 2020.
Sacha Baron Cohen is reprising his Ali G role
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In the trailer, Ali G declares he has spent the past 20 years “chilling” while the world has deteriorated around him.
Mr Cohen’s signature improvisational chaos is on full display in the trailer.
Among the more surreal moments, U.S. Brigadier General C. Stewart Rodeheaver appears wearing cat-ear headphones, whispering in ASMR fashion about the conflict with Iran.
Mr Cohen has already been road-testing the character in public, turning up at the 2026 Wimbledon men’s singles final in full Ali G garb, interacting with spectators at Centre Court and reportedly attempting to flog cannabis.
Sacha Baron Cohen has already been road-testing the character in public, turning up at the 2026 Wimbledon men’s singles final in full Ali G garb
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The film represents Mr Cohen’s first time directing a feature, adding a new dimension to a career that has largely seen him in front of the camera or behind the typewriter.
He announced the project in July via Instagram, posting a video in character with the caption: “Dey haz finally made a documentary about me.”
Mr Cohen serves as writer, director and producer through his Four by Two Films banner, with Petr Jákl and Emily Kob on board as executive producers.
The documentary was announced in July
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Who Iz I? reunites the comedian with Amazon MGM following Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, the pandemic-era sequel that earned a pair of Oscar nominations.
Beyond his own creations, Mr Cohen has recently appeared as Mephisto in Marvel’s Ironheart on Disney+.
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