Yeah, I know people have been talking about this for three years, but it looks like it’s finally going to happen. From Marquee Blogs Dot Com:
Talk about perfect casting: Outrageous British comic Sacha Baron Cohen will play outrageous Brit rocker Freddie Mercury in a biopic about the Queen frontman set to film next year, reports Deadline.com. Mercury, known for his soaring vocals and flamboyant stage presence, helped make Queen one of the biggest bands of the ’70s and ’80s with hits like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Are the Champions” and “We Will Rock You.“ He died from AIDS-related complications at age 45 in 1991.
Reports that Cohen, 38, would play the singer first surfaced in 2007, though the actor’s rep shot down the rumors at the time. GK Films, which is heading up the project, now confirms that the Borat and Bruno star is on board. Screenwriter Peter Morgan, who previously wrote scripts for The Queen and The Last King of Scotland, is ready to take on music royalty for the film.
GK Films’ Graham King said in a statement, “Queen is one of the greatest rock bands of all time, and a music brand all unto itself. Freddie Mercury was an awe-inspiring performer, so with Sacha in the starring role coupled with Peter’s screenplay and the support of Queen, we have the perfect combination to tell the real story behind their success.”
Music rights for the band’s songs have already been acquired, and Deadline reports that it’s not yet known whether Cohen will do his own singing or whether Mercury’s vocals will be used. Cohen, however, did prove he could belt out a tune with the best of them in Sweeney Todd, the 2007 musical starring Johnny Depp, who, coincidentally, was also once rumored to be playing Mercury on screen.
It’ll be interesting to see how Cohen handles the role.
His over-the-top characters are brilliant, but I doubt he’ll play someone who died from AIDS for comedy.
Comic actors can shift over to drama more easily than dramatic actors can do comedy. I’m confident that Cohen is up to the task. He rocks.
I heard about this – interesting casting, indeed! I think Cohen will nail it. Can’t wait to see how it turns out.
Cannot wait for this.
I hope the movie focuses on the backstory of Freddie’s sexy times that he kept hidden for all those years while fat bottomed girls went (radio) gaga over him.
I cringed when I heard about the movie but that was remedied when I heard about Sacha playing Freddie. He’s an actor of great depth, nuance and sensitivity and I think will do an amazing job. This could be the role that gets him an Oscar nomination. With a good screenwriter on board, the movie could actually turn out to be quite the surprise.
I did have this fantasy of Noel Fielding playing Freddie in the early 70s years…