The long-planned biopic of Freddie Mercury is unlikely to go ahead following Sacha Baron Cohen’s exit, the film’s writer has revealed.
Baron Cohen had been attached to star as Mercury since September 2010, but he pulled out of the project in July, reportedly because he and Queen, who have script and director approval, were unable to agree on the type of movie they want to make.
The band apparently want the biopic to be a PG affair, while the actor was keen to delve into the grittier, more adult aspects of Mercury’s famously hedonistic lifestyle. Now screenwriter Peter Morgan, whose script was reportedly turned down by Queen, has revealed that the project has been shelved, according to a tweet from the BBC’s Entertainment News Team, which read: “Freddie Mercury biopic writer Peter Morgan has told the BBC the film is “probably not going to happen” now Sacha Baron Cohen has pulled out.”
Morgan is the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind The Queen, Frost/Nixon and this month’s Rush. His script, it was reported in March, was to begin with the formation of Queen in the early ’70s and end with their appearance at Live Aid in 1985.