Ali G on da fast track to Ferrell comedy

Sacha Baron Cohen as Ali G.

LOS ANGELES - Sacha Baron Cohen, a.k.a. Ali G, will play a gay French Formula One driver in the untitled NASCAR comedy starring Will Ferrell.

Also on board the Columbia Pictures project are John C. Reilly, Michael Clarke Duncan and Gary Cole.

Ferrell ("Bewitched") plays Ricky Bobby, a world-class race car driver and fan favorite. Cohen, hot off the success of his HBO comedy series "Da Ali G Show," will play Jean Girard, who comes to the US to conquer NASCAR and defeat Ferrell.

Reilly, who is filming Robert Altman's "A Prairie Home Companion," will play Cal Naughton, Ferrell's boyhood friend who together with Ferrell forms "Thunder & Lightning," the most feared racing duo in NASCAR.

Duncan will play Lucius Washington, a crew chief whose main job is to harness Ferrell's go-for-broke attitude and keep him from crashing. Cole will play Reese Bobby, Ferrell's estranged father who re-enters his life to help him return to the top of the racing world.

Adam McKay is directing from a script he wrote with Ferrell. Production is scheduled to begin next month, with a summer 2006 release date scheduled.

- REUTERS/Hollywood Reporter