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Borat’s Sascha Baron Cohen to play Freddie Mercury
Borat star Sascha Baron Cohen is to play Freddie Mercury in a film about rock band Queen, which will focus on the period leading up to Live Aid in 1985, and will begin shooting next year.
Queen guitarist Brian May confirmed that Cohen will be playing the lead. May, together with drummer Roger Taylor will oversee music featured in the film, which will include solo songs as well as band performances, and Frost/Nixon scribe Peter Morgan will be writing the screenplay.
"We have Sacha Baron Cohen, which will probably be a shock to a lot of people, but he's been talking with us for a long time," May said during a TV interview.
Baron Cohen had been "on this project since we started talking about it seriously with Peter Morgan a couple of years ago," he added.
The film will be co-produced by Graham King, of GK films and Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal's production company Tribeca.
"Freddie Mercury was an awe-inspiring performer so with Sacha in the starring role, coupled with Peter's screenplay and the support of Queen, we have the perfect combination to tell the real story behind their success," they said.
Queen’s 21-minute classic rock performance at the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium featured Bohemian Rhapsody, We Are The Champions and Radio Ga Ga.
