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Ben Whishaw To Play Freddie Mercury In Upcoming Film

Rumors have been circulating around the the casting of Freddie Mercury for an upcoming biopic, with Daniel Radcliffe as the top contender after Sacha Baron Cohen departed the project. Today, Deadline confirms that Skyfall and Cloud Atlas actor Ben Wishaw has been selected for the role. The as-yet-unnamed film will be directed by Dexter Fletcher, who is fresh off the musical Sunshine on Leith, with Graham King and Sony Pictures producing.

Fletcher is meeting with members of Queen to familiarize himself with the band's story—the movie will deal with Mercury's coming of age, including the formation of his band, the emergence of his queer sexuality and Queen's eventual rise to rock stardom. Whishaw, whose breakout role was in the 2006 thriller Perfume, only recently acknowledged being gay this summer, when he made  his civil partnership  with Australian composer Mark Bradshaw public. In 2012, Wishaw told Out magazine that "as an actor you have total rights to privacy and mystery, whatever your sexuality, whatever you do."

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