Borat, Meet Sherlock Holmes

(Getty Images)

Sacha Baron Cohen will trim his legendary Borat mustache into a more refined bit of facial hair, don a pipe and spectacles for the upcoming film about fictional English sleuth Sherlock Holmes. Will Ferrell will play his loyal sidekick Watson.

It's the second time around for the two actors, who first starred together in the 2006 auto racing spoof Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

The not yet titled Sherlock film will be based on the principal characters created by Scottish-born author and physician Arthur Conan Doyle in the late 19th century.

The character of Holmes, a straight-laced english gentleman with an uncanny knack for solving crimes, seems like a stretch for Cohen, who although was educated at England's Cambridge University, has risen to fame playing boorish, irreverant characters such as Borat, ali G and Bruno.

Columbia Pictures says its confident the two actors will breathe new life into the roles.

"Just the idea of Sacha and Will as Sherlock Holmes and Watson makes us laugh," Columbia Pictures co-president Matt Tolmach said in a statement obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.