Sacha Baron Cohen leads 300 Ali G lookalikes through London ahead of new film

Sacha Baron Cohen took his old comic character Ali G back onto the streets of London on Sunday, 11 October 2026, leading about 300 fans dressed as the character on a tour of the city to promote his new film, Ali G: Who Iz I?. The group rode double-decker buses, took a boat trip on the River Thames and stopped near landmarks including Big Ben and Marble Arch, before ending at a cinema in Leicester Square, where Baron Cohen judged an Ali G lookalike competition and named a winner. Amazon MGM Studios is releasing the comedy in cinemas on 23 October for a short run, after which it is due to move to Prime Video.

Ali G is a character Baron Cohen has returned to after a long gap, and the new film is billed as a mockumentary in which he returns as a London bad boy. Bringing him back is a bet that nostalgia and a new generation of social media audiences can turn an old joke into a fresh hit. The London tour shows how that bet is being placed: instead of a red carpet, the studio staged a street event built to be filmed and shared by the fans themselves.

The release plan is also worth noting. A short run in cinemas before streaming has become a common route for studios that own both a theatrical arm and a streaming service. It gives the film reviews, headlines and a chance at box office money, while the larger audience is expected to come later at home. For Amazon MGM, which owns Prime Video, the cinema window is partly a marketing tool for the stream.

The film has not been free of argument: commentary sites have reported an email campaign urging cinemas not to show it, on the claim that its satire relies on stereotypes. How audiences and reviewers respond after 23 October will show whether the character still lands in 2026, when the line between satire and offence is drawn more sharply than it was two decades ago.

For viewers outside Britain and the United States, including in India, the streaming route is likely to matter most, though a Prime Video date has not been announced.

Short-term: The stunt has given the film a burst of free attention less than two weeks before release, and sets up its short cinema run on 23 October.

Long-term: If the film performs, it could encourage studios to revive more early-2000s comedy characters and to lean further on fan-made, street-level publicity rather than costly traditional campaigns.

Who is affected: Ali G fans in Britain and abroad, cinema chains taking the short theatrical run, Prime Video subscribers, and studios watching how nostalgia-driven comedies perform.

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