Will the Freddie Mercury biopic ever sail into smooth waters and make it onto the big screen? At the moment, it just seems to be one obstacle after another when the project, originally intended for release in 2015, is concerned. The first major disappointment for the project came when funny man actor Sacha Baron Cohen, who is most famous for his alter egos, Ali G and Bruno, dropped out after he had originally been cast as Mercury. Although the project will obviously not be a comedy, Baron Cohen had initially seemed like the perfect candidate to play the role of the legendary Queen frontman.

ben whishaw freddie mercuryBen Whishaw has replaced Sacha Baron Cohen to play Freddie Mercury

Baron Cohen and Mercury certainly share an aesthetic resemblance, although the worry seemed to be whether or not the comedic actor would be able summon the gravitas necessary for the role. Roger Taylor, the drummer for Queen, had expressed doubts in the past that Baron Cohen was “too funny”, adding “We felt Sacha probably wasn’t right. We didn’t want it to be a joke. We want people to be moved.” In contrast, Baron Cohen seemed to have wanted the movie to be darker than the other Queen members, who want it to attract a wide audience, had intended.  The creative differences seemed to prove too much to all parties involved, and Baron Cohen parted ways from the others involved with the project. English actor Ben Whishaw has replaced Baron Cohen to play the role of Freddie Mercury in the 2015 biopic.

After all of the issues with Baron Cohen seemed to resolve, Queen fans had hoped that the project would suffer any more setbacks. However, director Dexter Fletcher has also now left the biopic, citing more “creative differences” with Graham King from GK Films. We can’t help but wonder what are all of these creative differences that various people associated with the project keep running into? Perhaps sometimes when a single person or project faces a continuous stream of problems you have to face up to facts that the problem may be closer to home than lying with the other people who have been involved. It sounds like the people behind the Freddie Mercury biopic may need to compromise with others to keep the project still on track and avoid any more setbacks.

dexter fletcher freddie mercuryDirector Dexter Fletcher has also left the project

Freddie Mercury was the flamboyant and talented lead singer of Queen.  He died from an AIDS related illness in November 1991 just one day after he had publicly announced that he had been suffering with the disease.

Will you be heading to watch the Freddie Mercury biopic when (fingers crossed) it finally comes out?

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