The fact that Sacha Baron Cohen isn’t playing Freddie Mercury still pisses me off. I’m sorry but the guy is a great actor, can sing a bit and looks like the man he is playing. The fact that the band wanted to take a lighter road for the film was a seriously stupid one if they wanted an Oscar quality film made. That being said, Deadline has reported that Dexter Fletcher has signed on to direct the upcoming movie about the band Queen while Ben Wishaw (Q in Skyfall) has secured the role of the lead singer, Freddie Mercury.
Dexter Fletcher is an actor turned director who recently directed his second film, Sunshine On Leith, a lighthearted relationship-based musical that was actually pretty decent despite the cringe-inducing lovey songs and standard rom-com plot narrative. He probably isn’t a bad candidate since he’s also had experience as an actor in films like Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels which means he can handle working in very different genres. Knowing this, I hope he doesn’t make the upcoming Queen film too fluffy like his prior musical.
The film will not follow Mercury’s last days but rather “tell the formative coming-of-age story of the group, culminating in Queen headlining Live Aid in 1985,” which is considered one of the best live rock shows. The best part is that the film will be using Queen’s actual music with tunes like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions,” “Another One Bites The Dust” and “You’re My Best Friend” as part of the rights package.
The producers are aiming to get this film started sometime in 2014 from a script by Peter Morgan.
What do you think of Wishaw as Mercury? Let us know in the comments below.
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