To be honest, he’s the first person most people would go to if they were thinking of making a biopic about Freddie Mercury, simply because there’s a physical resemblance and a similar look-at-me style, so it’s not that shocking Sacha Baron Cohen has been tapped to play the singer in a new movie.
Deadline has the news, confirming the casting and that the film will be financed by GK Films partners Graham King and Tim Headington, who’ll produce in partnership with Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthals Tribeca Productions, and Queen Films (a company set up by the surviving members of the band, specifically for this film). Peter Morgan (The Queen, Frost/Nixon) is on scripting duties, which is an interesting choice and should ensure this is more than just a fluff piece, with production set to begin next year.
The rights have already been put together not just for Mercury’s life story, but for the production to be able to use all of Queen’s classic songs, which should help ensure this actually gets made, although it’s not yet known if Baron Cohen will record new versions of the Queen’s songs, or if he’ll mime to Mercury’s performances. It’s also suggested that the film will deal with the star’s rise to fame, leading up to the classic performance at 1985’s Live Aid, and won’t cover his death from AIDS, which helped remove a lot of the stigma of the disease.
As yet, no director has been hired, although with Mercury such a huge icon, expect it to attract some major talent.