Sasha Baron Cohen will star in a Freddie Mercury biopic, after all.
Time reported on Saturday that the Brüno star will wear a few more hats than originally expected in the highly-anticipated film about the former Queen frontman.
Cohen will reportedly play Freddie Mercury in front of the camera, but he will also have a lot of behind-the-camera work to do as the writer, producer, and director of the film.
Sasha Baron Cohen will write, film, produce and star in a Freddie Mercury biopic! http://t.co/lDX9sail1s #film pic.twitter.com/qglfqI1eSx
— Brad (@thisisbradM) March 28, 2015
Many Queen fans and critics know that a Freddie Mercury biopic has been in the works for many years.
In addition, many would agree that Sasha Baron Cohen is the ideal choice to match the look, style, and versatility of such an iconic on-stage performer as Freddie Mercury.
Back in 2013, though, the dream of seeing Sasha Baron Cohen playing Freddie Mercury on the big-screen seemed to have been shot down when Cohen pulled out of the project.
According to Deadline , Cohen and the band members of Queen were experiencing “creative differences” when it came to finding the perfect director and writing the perfect script for the project.
“The band wanted to make more of a PG movie about Queen while Cohen was counting on a gritty R-rated tell-all centered around the gifted gay singer.”
However, a big-screen biopic of Freddie Mercury’s life is something that many Queen fans (and rock-and-roll fans in general) have wanted for years — especially with the many other rock stars that have received the same type of big-screen treatment in recent years.
That is why it should not be surprising that the band manager, Jim Beach, confirmed the updated news about the film during his award acceptance speech at the Artist and Manager Awards on Thursday.
“You have probably followed the saga of the famous Queen-Freddie Mercury biopic which has been developing in Hollywood for the last seven years. An important breakthrough is that we have now managed to persuade Sacha Baron Cohen to write, produce, and direct this movie, and he has also agreed to star.”
Most of the films that have had Sasha Baron Cohen in a leading or supporting role over the years have been comedies — such as Brüno , Borat, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby .
MRW I find out Sasha Baron Cohen will play Freddie Mercury via http://t.co/uvnsIOl57W #FailingTheHonest pic.twitter.com/k0sKuSPeqP
— CodeAndCommand (@CodeAndCommand) March 28, 2015
However, he showed that he had a musical and dramatic side to his acting skills when he starred in the 2012 Oscar-winning film, Les Miserables .
With that type of range, Sasha Baron Cohen might be able to walk away from this Freddie Mercury biopic with the dropped jaws of skeptical fans and critics along with at least an Oscar nomination.
[Image Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images]
