For quite a long time now Sacha Baron Cohen has been attached to star in a biopic of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. The project is moving forward, with Variety reporting that Stephen Frears is the frontrunner to direct the film. He would seem good choice, having proven himself with biopics with The Queen, as well as showing his love of music in the likes of High Fidelity.
No deal is set yet and several other filmmakers are being considered, but at the moment Frears appears to have the inside track. The film would reunite Frears with The Queen screenwriter Peter Morgan, who’s been working on the script, with Stephen J. Revele and Christopher Wilkinson rewriting his drafts.
It’s previously been suggested that the film will deal with the star’s rise to fame, leading up to the classic performance at 1985’s Live Aid, and won’t cover his death from AIDS, which helped remove a lot of the stigma of the disease. It isn’t known how the film will deal with the singer’s sexuality, although presumably it will feature in the movie. The surviving members of Queen are all involved in the movie, ensuring the use of the band’s classic songs.
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