The Freddie Mercury Biopic Is Still Going To Happen
After forever in limbo, the long-gestating Freddie Mercury biopic may finally, actually be happening.
Possibly.
Originally announced seven years ago, it was to star Sacha Baron Cohen, who if you can get past his Borat and Bruno schtick, would have made an intriguing choice to play the powder keg Queen frontman.
Freddie also gave us colorful characters
Unfortunately, Sacha left while the film was still in the planning stage, due to "creative differences" about the direction and tone. Baron wanted a "darker, grittier portrayal" of Freddie, while filmmakers and former bandmates (including Brain May) wanted a more family-friendly portrait.
I have to agree with Sacha on this. Freddie's life was not PG-13, and there's no reason to give it a TV movie treatment. It should be balls-out or nothing.
But after languishing in pre-production hell, rumors began circulating that the project was being resurrected, with out actor Ben Whishaw (currently starring in Spectre and London Spy) attached to star. It looked to be all systems go, until production was stalled again, with Wishaw lamenting “It was going, then there were problems getting the script working.”
But now, those minor details (like script and casting) seem to have been ironed out, and production is slated to begin again in 2016, with Wishaw still attached, and screenwriter Anthony McCarten (who received an Oscar nomination for the Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory Of Everything) writing the screenplay.
We've been burned before, so we're not getting our hopes up, but it looks like the stars are aligning, and we may see the story of the rock icon on screen after all.
Of course, Ben will first have to be fitted with a full body merkin.
