Freddie Mercury

Brian May says Freddie Mercury biopic announcement was merely a joke

It was announced yesterday that Sacha Baron Cohen had rejoined the long in the making biopic about Freddie Mercury and would be the writer, director and star in the film. This announcement came from longtime Queen manager, Jim Beach during his Artist and Manager Awards speech this week. However, it now seems that it was all just a joke. 

Brian May, the guitarist for Queen, said that Beach was simply kidding when he announced Cohen’s participation and he was misquoted by the press. In a recent posting on his website, he explained, “There’s a report … but it doesn’t mention a small joke that Jim threw in during his acceptance speech. He said that, in response to enquiries about the progress on the Freddie feature film, that Sacha Baron Cohen had been re-engaged to write, produce, and direct the film, as well as starring in all four major roles! I’m afraid some folks might have taken it seriously!”

Cohen left the project after being cast for Mercury for years, because of disagreements with the surviving members of Queen about the tone and direction of the film.  in 2013 due to disagreements with the surviving members of Queen over the film’s direction and tone. It was reported previously that Ben Whishaw, who played in movies such as Skyfall, Cloud Atlas, and I’m Not There has been a favorite to play Mercury in place of Cohen. It remains unclear what will happen however. 

Update: Sacha Baron Cohen will not write, direct,  and star in new Freddie Mercury biopic

The on-and-off again biopic about Freddie Mercury starring Sacha Baron Cohen seems to be back in progress. Cohen, last year, had reportedly left the project because of disagreements with the surviving members of Wueen over the direction and tone of the film. However, now Jim Beach, the manager for Queen, has announced that Cohen is back on the project and will also be writing and directing the project. 

Beach said during a speech at the Artist and Manager Awards this week: “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.”

Update March 29th: According to Brian May, guitarist for Queen, Beach was just joking about his new participation in the Mercury biopic.

“You have probably followed the saga of the famous Queen-Freddie Mercury biopic which has been developing in Hollywood for the last seven years,” Beach said during a speech at the Artist and Manager Awards this week. “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.”

Even though Beach did not talk about the timetable for the film production, the IMDB shows that there is nothing scheduled for Cohen once he finished filming a comedy named  Grimsby so production could begin even this year presumably.