Sacha Baron Cohen to play Freddie Mercury

The show must go on for Freddie Mercury. And it has…or should I say, it will.

But how, you may ask? Queen fans, brace yourself.

According to Luke Buckmaster’s article, a biopic on one of the greatest rock bands of all time is in the works. Yep, unlike Joaquin Phoenix’ mockumentary I’m Still Here, Queen’s biopic will be indeed about the band. No hoax. 

The author successfully informs readers everything there is to know at this stage about the upcoming film. Of particular interest is Borat actor Sacha Baron Cohen signing on to portray the band’s theatrical frontman Freddie Mercury. And boy does he have big (if not humongous) shoes to fill!

Can Cohen pull it off? Source: Perfectpeople (left), Crikey (right)

This is exciting news, particularly for die-hard Queen fans. And while most agree Cohen looks the part, this does not guarantee the movie’s success. What could be controversial is the way Mercury will be portrayed. How accurately will Cohen be? The singing could also prove problematic (remember Pierce Brosnan's singing in Mama Mia! ?).

I’m hoping that the movie will successfully convey the way Queen and particularly Mercury have touched and moved so many people with their music. The impact the band has had globally is still evident. Need proof? Check out the comments made to some of their YouTube videos.

I might be bias, but their music was incredible and so was Mercury’s voice. Aside from ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, ‘Love Of My Life’ remains one of my fave songs. Poignant and simply beautiful.

Back to the biopic though, what might come across as a little unusual is the fact that it will be penned by Peter Morgan, who has mainly written non-fiction political dramas including The Queen, The Special Relationship and The Last King Of Scotland.

Regarding the article, the author successfully uses the inverted pyramid structure. His casual tone engages readers as he shares his news with us, and despite his informality, he remains factual by providing a credible source to these facts – GK Films. Moreover, the inclusion of a snippet from the GK Films press release cements the article’s credibility.

In terms of graphics, the accompanying photoshopped image definitely helps the audience to physically visualise Cohen as Mercury, supporting Buckmaster’s claim. Perhaps if the author wanted to emphasise on their likeness, he should have instead included images of both Mercury and Cohen and compared them side by side.

This news comes at a timely time as it appears that biopics of music artists are becoming a trend, with the release of The Runaways, I’m Not There and La Vie en Rose, and upcoming biopics on Tupac Shakur, Aretha Franklin and as mentioned in an earlier post, Justin Bieber. In my opinion though, biopics will never be "out of fashion".

And while we are on the subject of biopics of music legends, how long do you think till someone suggests writing a biopic on Michael Jackson? That would surely be interesting.