Cohen signs for Spielberg Vietnam film

Rex Features

Comic actor Sacha Baron Cohen has signed up to appear in Steven Spielberg's new movie The Trial of the Chicago Seven.

Cohen will play the famous anti-Vietnam War campaigner Abbie Hoffman.

Hoffman achieved notoriety via a series of pranks used to protest against US involvement in Vietnam in the '60s.

The movie will tell the story of protests at the 1968 Democrat party convention, which resulted in a series of violent conflicts after demonstrators hurled bricks and police fired tear gas.

Hoffman was one of the eight protestors blamed for the escalating violence and was accused of inciting a riot

He committed suicide with pills in 1989 after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

The film is expected to be released in 2010.