When the Queen is not a Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen pulls out of Freddy Mercury film over creative differences with original members of the band
British comedian/actor Sacha Baron Cohen won’t be playing legendary Queen frontman Freddy Mercury in the planned biopic film on the uber-influential rock band, according to a report this week from a Hollywood news site.
Although the film has been in development for several years and Cohen has been attached to the project since 2011, he and his team, which included some heavy-hitters who worked on the 2012 Oscar-nominated “Les Misérables” film adaptation, withdrew over creative differences with the remaining members of Queen, who have veto power over the script and director choice, Deadline Hollywood reported on Monday.
The film was to document the band’s rise to international stardom culminating in their 1985 performance at Live Aid, but “the band wanted to make more of a PG movie about Queen while Cohen was counting on a gritty R-rated tell-all centered around the gifted gay singer,” the report said.
Cohen was considered by insiders to be perfect for the role due to his abilities as a character actor and his physical resemblance to Mercury.
The film is to continue production and presumably the search is on for another actor to take on the role.