Photo: PA

Queen guitarist Brian May has revealed details of the forthcoming Freddie Mercury biopic on his website.

He confirms that the film – starring comedian and Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen as the singer – will be ready for release in 2014, following some setbacks.

Brian May says: "The pieces are all falling into place, though we are now on a slightly later schedule - filming is now scheduled to start in the Spring, with Sacha Baron Cohen playing Freddie."

He adds: "The film should be ready for release early in 2014. We did make some other plans, but they will have to stay under wraps for now. Being in Queen is – bizarrely – as full of surprising twists and turns as ever - 40 years since we first got together, and 20 years after losing Freddie. But of course Freddie is in so many ways very much alive. He must be wryly smiling somewhere!!!"

The Freddie Mercury biopic is being scripted by Peter Morgan, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind The Queen and Frost/Nixon. The film is currently in development, with input from Queen stars Brian May and Roger Taylor.

I don't know, man. This is one biopic they can't afford to fuck up.

purplethunder3121 said:

Film now due for a 2014 release

• Queen guitarist Brian May has revealed details of the forthcoming Freddie Mercury biopic on his website.

He confirms that the film – starring comedian and Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen as the singer – will be ready for release in 2014, following some setbacks.


Brian May says: "The pieces are all falling into place, though we are now on a slightly later schedule - filming is now scheduled to start in the Spring, with Sacha Baron Cohen playing Freddie."

He adds: "The film should be ready for release early in 2014. We did make some other plans, but they will have to stay under wraps for now. Being in Queen is – bizarrely – as full of surprising twists and turns as ever - 40 years since we first got together, and 20 years after losing Freddie. But of course Freddie is in so many ways very much alive. He must be wryly smiling somewhere!!!"

The Freddie Mercury biopic is being scripted by Peter Morgan, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind The Queen and Frost/Nixon. The film is currently in development, with input from Queen stars Brian May and Roger Taylor.

What the hell were they thinking???

Thelaststander said:

I don't know, man. This is one biopic they can't afford to fuck up.

I think they already fucked it up.

I will definately go see it.

Borat does resemble Freddie but he has an accent... I dunno. Not sure how good he is as a serious actor. I wish these organizers would put more time into making these bio pics. Its okay to have an unknown actress/actor as a lead. They always want to find a draw.... Freddie Mercury alone would be a draw people want to see a bio pic on him.

DysregulatedToxicity said:

Thelaststander said:

I don't know, man. This is one biopic they can't afford to fuck up.

I think they already fucked it up.

Case in point: Ali G/Bruno/Borat being in the leading role...

mjscarousal said:

Borat does resemble Freddie but he has an accent... I dunno. Not sure how good he is as a serious actor. I wish these organizers would put more time into making these bio pics. Its okay to have an unknown actress/actor as a lead. They always want to find a draw.... Freddie Mercury alone would be a draw people want to see a bio pic on him.

yeah i agree but then again, they are so pparticular about doing this that i feel they have gone to great lengths to make sure he can play this role, i think the biggest concern was what the film would cover, how much of the band days, and just how much of the later days.

mjscarousal said:

Borat does resemble Freddie but he has an accent... I dunno. Not sure how good he is as a serious actor. I wish these organizers would put more time into making these bio pics. Its okay to have an unknown actress/actor as a lead. They always want to find a draw.... Freddie Mercury alone would be a draw people want to see a bio pic on him.

I hear you but I don't know either...maybe just, maybe Sacha can pull it off.

Who would be better suited to portray Freddie?

purplethunder3121 said:

Film now due for a 2014 release

• Cohen as the singer – will be ready for release in 2014, following some setbacks.

B

wow, Cohen LOOKS LIKE HIM

Brian May can go fuck himself. Cashing in on Freddie all this time.

andykeen said:

Brian May can go fuck himself. Cashing in on Freddie all this time.

no, f*ck you

he's keeping his memory alive

what's better, to live off the past, off 75-92 memories?

lol well a documentary is much better than a film. Brian May and Roger Taylor can just form a duo Brian & Roger or find an unknown talent from England that would keep it going but not call it Queen lol (the Queen Project or something).

Timmy84 said:

lol well a documentary is much better than a film. Brian May and Roger Taylor can just form a duo Brian & Roger or find an unknown talent from England that would keep it going but not call it Queen lol (the Queen Project or something).

No a better name would be Brian, Roger & Company.

missfee said:

Timmy84 said:

lol well a documentary is much better than a film. Brian May and Roger Taylor can just form a duo Brian & Roger or find an unknown talent from England that would keep it going but not call it Queen lol (the Queen Project or something).

No a better name would be Brian, Roger & Company.

Yes! That was the name I was looking for.

mjscarousal said:

Borat does resemble Freddie but he has an accent... I dunno. Not sure how good he is as a serious actor. I wish these organizers would put more time into making these bio pics. Its okay to have an unknown actress/actor as a lead. They always want to find a draw.... Freddie Mercury alone would be a draw people want to see a bio pic on him.

LOL. You do realise that the actor who plays Borat is english?

nd33 said:

mjscarousal said:

Borat does resemble Freddie but he has an accent... I dunno. Not sure how good he is as a serious actor. I wish these organizers would put more time into making these bio pics. Its okay to have an unknown actress/actor as a lead. They always want to find a draw.... Freddie Mercury alone would be a draw people want to see a bio pic on him.

LOL. You do realise that the actor who plays Borat is english?

I thought he was of some sort of ethnic If his english than thats something that doesnt have to be a issue.

mjscarousal said:

nd33 said:

LOL. You do realise that the actor who plays Borat is english?

I thought he was of some sort of ethnic If his english than thats something that doesnt have to be a issue.

looks like you are one of those fooled by Cohen when he released Borat back in 2006

Sasha Baron Cohen actually isn't a bad choice.

If you've ever heard him interviewed or seen him outside of the context of his crazy characters, he's very sharp, very articulate, and really nothing like the outrageous characters he plays. I really think he could pull off a decent representation of Freddie. There are probably better choices, but this isn't bad, IMO.

JoeTyler said:

mjscarousal said:

I thought he was of some sort of ethnic If his english than thats something that doesnt have to be a issue.

looks like you are one of those fooled by Cohen when he released Borat back in 2006

Yea I WAS not gonna lie... had no clue that dude was english

coltrane3 said:

Sasha Baron Cohen actually isn't a bad choice.

If you've ever heard him interviewed or seen him outside of the context of his crazy characters, he's very sharp, very articulate, and really nothing like the outrageous characters he plays. I really think he could pull off a decent representation of Freddie. There are probably better choices, but this isn't bad, IMO.

Yeah he is. I just wonder if he can pull off the acting for the film and can he get Freddie's mannerisms and behavior and talk down... he's also gonna have to move around the stage in a frenetic pace, like Freddie did. But we shall see.

Timmy84 said:

coltrane3 said:

Sasha Baron Cohen actually isn't a bad choice.

If you've ever heard him interviewed or seen him outside of the context of his crazy characters, he's very sharp, very articulate, and really nothing like the outrageous characters he plays. I really think he could pull off a decent representation of Freddie. There are probably better choices, but this isn't bad, IMO.

Yeah he is. I just wonder if he can pull off the acting for the film and can he get Freddie's mannerisms and behavior and talk down... he's also gonna have to move around the stage in a frenetic pace, like Freddie did. But we shall see.

The trick will be if he can convincingly act the role without it becoming a cartoonish comic character that belongs in an SNL or Mad TV skit...

purplethunder3121 said:

Timmy84 said:

Yeah he is. I just wonder if he can pull off the acting for the film and can he get Freddie's mannerisms and behavior and talk down... he's also gonna have to move around the stage in a frenetic pace, like Freddie did. But we shall see.

The trick will be if he can convincingly act the role without it becoming a cartoonish comic character that belongs in an SNL or Mad TV skit...

Exactly.

JoeTyler said:

andykeen said:

Brian May can go fuck himself. Cashing in on Freddie all this time.

no, f*ck you

he's keeping his memory alive

what's better, to live off the past, off 75-92 memories?

errmmm yes... next question ass-hole?

I wonder how John Deacon still feels about seeing his former band mates touring into their autumn years... probably shaking his head? But then again, I'm possibly sure he could care less. He's done the rock and roll thing, he got older and just left. Brian and Roger (to a lesser extent) seem to love being in the limelight as long as they can still breathe.

I hope for their sake, the film does well for them and the legacy of Freddie.

baron looks like a good choice . worth it if its done well

andykeen said:

Brian May can go fuck himself. Cashing in on Freddie all this time.

I agree with you to a point. I didn't mind the tribute concert done in the early 90's and the "made in heaven" album, but other then reissues and documentaries, both Brian and Roger should of just stopped, just like John Deacon did soon after "made in heaven" was wrapped up. Deacon quit at the right time...

Iam also in the camp that calling a group Queen and Paul Rogers or whatever it was, was wrong and indeed a cashin'. If they changed their name then thats their business, but they used the name "Queen" to sell tickets. They knew full well that without that name, hardly anyone would of cared.

coltrane3 said:

Sasha Baron Cohen actually isn't a bad choice.

If you've ever heard him interviewed or seen him outside of the context of his crazy characters, he's very sharp, very articulate, and really nothing like the outrageous characters he plays. I really think he could pull off a decent representation of Freddie. There are probably better choices, but this isn't bad, IMO.

I agree. This casting strangely didn't make me cringe.

Now if only Johnny Depp would play Michael Hutchence...then both the biopics I really wanna see would see the light of the day.