UNIT 4: RHYTHM AND RHYME

INTRODUCTION

Sacha Baron Cohen has quit a high-profile forthcoming biopic of Freddie Mercury after
"creative differences" with the singer's band, Queen, reports Deadline.

The Borat star apparently walked after his vision of a racy treatment depicting Mercury's
famously salacious lifestyle was at odds with the more family-friendly approach desired by the
singer's erstwhile bandmates. Cohen, who was due to play the flamboyant singer in a rare
dramatic role, had brought in Peter Morgan, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Queen, to
work on the script and lined up film-makers of the calibre of David Fincher or The King's
Speech's Tom Hooper to potentially direct.

The film – which is based on the life story of one of the most iconic singers of the 20th century,
and with an awards season-friendly team in the background – had all the ingredients of a
strong contender for Oscars glory. Gay themes have never been more popular with film-
makers at a time when the campaign to recognise same-sex marriage is making progress in the
western world. Sean Penn won the best actor prize in 2009 for his portrayal of the slain gay
politician Harvey Milk, and Michael Douglas would have been a likely contender for next year's
awards had Steven Soderbergh's Liberace biopic, Behind the Candelabra, not fallen foul of
Oscars rules by screening on TV first in the US.

Cohen also bears a strong resemblance to Mercury, who died of Aids-related illness in 1991,
although at 6ft 3in, the British actor is a good six inches taller than the Zanzibar-born singer.

The Mercury biopic will go ahead with another actor. Its producers include Graham King and
Robert De Niro.

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Sacha Baron Cohen: I quit Freddie Mercury biopic after dispute with Queen

Comedian says unnamed band member had wanted the second half of the planned film to
show how ‘the band carries on from strength to strength’

 ‘They wanted to protect their legacy as a band,’ said Sacha Baron Cohen of the surviving
members of Queen. Photograph: Robin Marchant/Getty Images

The Dailies: The Guardian Film Show Sacha Baron Cohen's Queen fallout and The Ones Below
reviewed – the Dailies podcast

The Guardian film team’s round-up of Wednesday’s movie news and reviews

Sacha Baron Cohen has revealed he walked away from a high-profile role as Freddie Mercury
because the surviving members of Queen wanted a substantial part of the film to focus on
them.
Speaking to the US radio host Howard Stern, Baron Cohen said he hoped to present a “warts
‘n’ all” view of the legendary singer’s hedonistic lifestyle, but Mercury’s former bandmates
were more concerned with protecting their legacy.

The comedian and actor said: “A member of the band – I won’t say who – said: ‘You know, this
is such a great movie because it’s got such an amazing thing that happens in the middle.’”

Sacha Baron Cohen quits Freddie Mercury film

  “And I go: ‘What happens in the middle of the movie?’ He goes: ‘You know, Freddie dies.’ ... I
go: ‘What happens in the second half of the movie?’ He goes: ‘We see how the band carries on
from strength to strength.’

“I said: ‘Listen, not one person is going to see a movie where the lead character dies from Aids
and then you see how the band carries on.’

“There are amazing stories about Freddie Mercury. The guy was wild. There are stories of little
people walking around parties with plates of cocaine on their heads!”

But according to Baron Cohen, who is in the US to promote his new film, Grimsby, Queen’s
surviving members did not want those stories told: “They wanted to protect their legacy as a
band.”

Baron Cohen said the band’s guitarist, Brian May, was an “amazing musician” but “not a great
movie producer”. He also revealed he introduced high-profile film-makers Tom Hooper and
David Fincher as possible directors during his six years working on the project, but neither
option worked out.

SOURCE: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jul/23/sacha-baron-cohen-queen-freddie-
mercury