The effort to make a film about Queen and lead singer Freddie Mercury has been a long and difficult one for producer Graham King thus far. Actors and directors have come and gone, but now things are on an upswing as Mr. Robot's Rami Malek is aboard to play Mercury and Bryan Singer is in talks to direct.
20th Century Fox has taken over backing this one, which had previously been developed at Sony. The real sticking point has been the tone of the film, as music producers and Queen band members Brian May and Roger Taylor have clashed with former planned star Sacha Baron Cohen over how to portray Mercury. And he wasn't the only name linked with the film – at one point or another, directors Tom Hooper and Dexter Fletcher had both considered it before dropping out.
Singer is a more surprising name, given that he's spent the last few years in superhero and fantasy territory, and had been busy developing a new 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea for Fox. If he does jump aboard what is currently known as Bohemian Rhapsody, it would likely see him delaying Leagues, as the new movie should be shooting early next year.
King has been pulling this one through the development marshes for eight years now, and has a script from The Theory Of Everything's Anthony McCarten. We'll see if this one actually comes together at last...
Dexter Fletcher and Ben Whishaw leave Freddie Mercury project.
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