Ali G rides again: Sacha Baron Cohen’s new movie locks its release date

Ali G is heading back 'indahouse' for a sequel, and yes, it's as mad as it sounds. Sacha Baron Cohen has dug out the tracksuit for Ali G: Who Iz I?, the follow-up to the 2002 film that took his infamous Staines M.C. to da big screen. If you thought we'd seen the last of the West London wannabe gangster, you were wrong—apparently, the world needs more interviews conducted in that semi-convincing fake Jamaican accent.

The comeback nobody expected

Ali G actually emerged on The 11 O'Clock Show, clowning England's supposedly 'underserved' youth with surreal interviews before landing his own series in 2000, and then going big with the cult film Ali G Indahouse in 2002. Now—after literal decades—Cohen's dusted him off for another round. Confirmation came via Cohen's Instagram: in full burgundy tracksuit, swinging a gold chain and deadpanning about repping 'the west side of Staines-upon-Thames'. He also claimed this would be his 'first movie in 20 decades' (maths is not Ali G's strong suit).

The new film is due out on 23 October 2026.

This one's being pushed as a documentary, which, knowing Cohen, probably means more unscripted chaos—expect something closer to Borat or Bruno than a straight-up sitcom. In those films, real people had to handle Cohen in turbocharged character, and most had no idea who was actually talking to them.

Filming, secrecy and strikes

Apparently, Ali G: Who Iz I? has been rumbling in the background for a while, but it ran into the brick wall that was the Hollywood strikes of 2023. After a pause, the cameras started rolling again last summer, with Cohen spotted doing his thing around Oxfordshire—snapped on set in full Ali G regalia. Almost all filming happened in secret, a tradition after Borat and Bruno.

• This stealth filming probably means a load of unsuspecting 'interviewees' will be getting stitched up on camera, thinking they're talking to a real up-and-coming urban youth presenter, not a Cambridge-educated comic in a tracksuit.

Greatest hits (and walkouts)

Ali G's got some history pranking the famous and the powerful. He's baffled everyone from Donald Trump—who famously stormed out in 2003 after being quizzed about his own surname and pitched the now-legendary 'ice cream gloves' idea—to academics like Noam Chomsky, and even the Beckhams, who took the jokes much better (including banter about teaching Brooklyn 'to roll his first spliff').

If the new film follows that template, brace yourself for some A-list awkwardness, along with whatever poor politician, celebrity or local dignitary gets cornered by Cohen this time.

Who's making it, and who's moaning?

This is Cohen's first time directing a feature-length film. Amazon MGM Studios are handling distribution, so it'll get a wide release—streaming later, presumably, if staring at secondary embarrassment in public isn't your thing. Predictably, not everyone's rolling out the welcome mat for Ali G's resurrection. The Guardian's Arwa Mahdawi's already had a pop at the character, pointing out the risk of outdated stereotypes and the brand of 'cringe ganja jokes' Cohen's been doing at recent press events.

On the plus side, Cohen isn't exactly short of career options if the project tanks. In just the last few years, he's cropped up as Mephisto in Marvel's Ironheart on Disney+, picked up a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nod for 2020's The Trial of the Chicago 7, and tried his hand at prestige films like Les Miserables and Hugo. Less impressively, 2026's streaming comedies Balls Up and Ladies First both bombed with critics.