Hey everyone, it’s time to rev up the “Another One Bites the Dust” headline generator, because according to our most beloved friend Nikki Finke at TOLDJAline, funnyman Sacha Baron Cohen has officially backed out of playing Freddie Mercury in the upcoming biopic of the incredibly talented singer’s life. This obviously blows because based on looks alone, Cohen is the perfect choice to play Mercury, but he’s also a talented enough actor that this could have been legitimate Oscar bait.
So why, then, would Cohen bail on this project that so many people are excited about? Would they not let him come up with zany catch phrases or wear a mesh unitard while doing power squats on Mercury’s grave? WHY???
The reason is that 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. Given the astonishing physical resemblance, it’s hard to imagine anyone else playing Freddie but Sacha. Cohen had brought in Peter Morgan to write and various directors including David Fincher and Tom Hooper to develop the project for himself. However, none were approved by the band.
A PG movie. About Queen and Mercury. Did they want it to be six minutes long, featuring 5 minutes of credits? Because that might have worked. Otherwise, good luck with Ashton Kutcher’s fake mustache.
