Actor Sacha Baron Cohen has reportedly quit the Freddie Mercury biopic over creative differences with Queen on the project.
Deadline reports 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 iconic gay singer.
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.
It was first revealed in the fall of 2010 that Cohen – famous for playing “Borat,” “Bruno” and other characters - would step into music’s biggest shoes to play the legendary Queen frontman.
The project has the cooperation of Mercury's estate and the three surviving members of Queen. Guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor will oversee the musical content of the film, which will feature both original Queen music and Mercury solo music.
The Mercury film will reportedly focus on 1980s-era Queen, leading up to the band’s appearance at Live Aid in 1985 – considered one of the greatest rock performances in history.
One of rock’s all-time greatest voices and frontmen, Mercury passed away in 1991 from complications arising from AIDS.
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