Dexter Fletcher to Direct Ben Whishaw-Led Freddy Mercury Biopic?

Deadline writes that actor-director Dexter Fletcher will helm GK films and Sony Pictures' upcoming Freddie Mercury biopic. As BWW previously reported, Ben Whishaw is still being eyed to star as the iconic Queen frontman.

Read the original report here.

The film will follow the formation of Queen up through the band's headlining gig at Live Aid in 1985. It will not address Freddie Mercury's early death in 1991 due to complications from AIDS. Songs expected to make an appearance in the movie include Queen hits "Bohemian Rhapsody", "We Will Rock You", "We Are The Champions", "Another One Bites The Dust" and "You're My Best Friend", among others.

Whishaw, the surviving members of the band's current favorite for the role, is still being considered for the film following a screen test last month. The actor is perhaps best known as 'gadget guru Q' from the latest James Bond flick Skyfall. Originally, funnyman Sacha Baron Cohen had been cast in the role, but he left the film due to "creative differences."

Fletcher first directed the film Wild Bill, followed by the movie musical Sunshine On Leith. As an actor, he has starred in Bugsy Malone, The Elephant Man, Revolution, Caravaggio, Lionheart, Jude, Time Enough, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Pandaemonium, Tristan + Isolde, Stardust, Kick-Ass, The Three Musketeers, and more.

The film will be penned by 'Frost/Nixon/ playwright and screenwriter Peter Morgan who was nominated for a Drama Desk in 2007. He also received Academy Award noms for He his screenplays of "Frost/Nixon" and "The Queen."

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