One of the most fascinating projects to watch go through the development process in the past few years has been the biopic of Queen and its frontman Freddie Mercury. For a few years Sacha Baron Cohen was the inspired choice to play the singer, and stuck with the project for a considerable amount of time, before eventually leaving due to creative differences. This spring, he was very candid about the problems he saw in the movie, which at the time he was involved, apparently included having Mercury’s death happen at the middle of the movie, with the picture then carrying on to celebrate the endurance of the surviving members, while downplaying the wild lifestyle of the singer during his heyday. Meanwhile, directors like Peter Morgan, David Fincher, and Tom Hooper all circled, but none signed up. “Brian May is an amazing musician, but he’s not a great movie producer,” Cohen quipped. Nonetheless, its seems May and co. have finally got the creative team in place.
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Deadline reports that “Mr. Robot” star Rami Malek will play Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” with Bryan Singer in talks to direct. Brian May and Roger Taylor from Queen are among the laundry list of producers on the project, with a script coming from Anthony McCarten (“The Theory Of Everything“), and the project backed by 20th Century Fox. For Singer, this likely means his big screen adaptation of “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” has been put on the backburner as “Bohemian Rhapsody” is on the fast-track to start filming in early 2017 (and I would presume aiming for an awards season release later next year).
Malek as Mercury is certainly an interesting choice, and it’s a helluva role for the terrifically talented actor. Singer is perhaps the big question mark as we’ve only seen him in blockbuster mode for years now. But maybe this is just the kind of project to let him show the other filmmaking gifts he’s been leaving in the toolbox. All told, it’s a story bursting with cinematic potential, so let’s hope everyone is in top form for this.
