Bryan Singer has signed on to direct the upcoming biopic on Freddie Mercury. Mr Robot star Rami Malek will essay the role of the deceased Queen frontman. The project has been in development for the past eight years.
Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen had originally been signed to star in the film, but Cohen left due to ‘creative differences’ with an unnamed Queen bandmember.
“A member of the band – I won’t say who – said: ‘You know, this is such a great movie because it’s got such an amazing thing that happens in the middle,'” Baron Cohen told US radio host Howard Stern (via the Radio Times) in an interview earlier this year.
Recommended
“And I go: ‘What happens in the middle of the movie?’ He goes: ‘You know, Freddie dies.’ … I go: ‘What happens in the second half of the movie?’ He goes: ‘We see how the band carries on from strength to strength.’
“I said: ‘Listen, not one person is going to see a movie where the lead character dies from Aids and then you see how the band carries on.’”
Titled Bohemian Rhapsody, the movie will follow the life of Mercury, who was born as Farrokh Bulsara in Tanzania. He was known for his flamboyant onstage persona and four octave vocal range. He succumbed to AIDS at the height of fame.
Feature Image Courtesy: Getty