Sacha Baron Cohen Departs Freddie Mercury Biopic Again

It seems that Sacha Baron Cohen has psyched us out again.

Yesterday, BroadwayWorld reported that the LES MISERABLES actor had rejoined the Freddie Mercury biopic not only as the title character, but as the screenwriter and director as well.

We have just learned that Baron Cohen is no longer attached to the project. Queen guitarist Brian May posted on his website to clarify that yesterday's report was a "small joke" from manager Jim Beach.

The original report is below:

The anticipated biopic of the former Queen singer has reached an "important breakthrough," manager Jim Beach says. BroadwayWorld has learned that as we suspected, said breakthrough is the casting of the title character, the process of which has been an uncertain roller coaster for five years with Sacha Baron Cohen (LES MISERABLES) and Ben Whishaw (BOND) in talks to portray the title character at different times.

"You have probably followed the saga of the famous Queen-Freddie Mercury biopic which has been developing in Hollywood for the last seven years," Beach said at the recent Artist and Manager Awards.

"An important breakthrough is that we have now managed to persuade Sacha Baron Cohen to write, produce and direct this movie, and he has also agreed to star."

"I do feel very strongly that management is a service industry, and managers have tremendous power in this business." he continued. "But they always must remember that power comes from their artist and not from themselves.

Baron Cohen was attached to the project in 2010, but dropped out in 2013 due to creative differences with Beach, as well as fellow band members Brian May and Roger Taylor. Whishaw then stepped in to the roll with Dexter Fletcher assuming position of the director, but neither reassignment stuck.

At the Artist & Manager Awards, Beach revealed the latest news on the Mercury film, as well as saying that Ben Elton had completed a sequel to WE WILL ROCK YOU, the successful Queen musical.

Sacha Baron Cohen is an English actor, comedian, and writer. A graduate of Christ's College, Cambridge (a constituent college of the University of Cambridge), Baron Cohen is most widely known for creating and playing four fictional characters: Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno Gehard and Admiral General Aladeen. In most of his routines, Baron Cohen's characters interact with unsuspecting people who do not realise they are being set up for comic situations and self-revealing ridicule. His other work includes voicing King Julien XIII in the Madagascar film series (2005-2012), starring in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Hugo (2011) and LES MISERABLES (2012). He made a cameo as a BBC News Anchor in ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES (2013). He will play an English football hooligan brother of an Mi6 spy in THE COMEDY film Grimsby (2015), and Time in Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass (2016).

Baron Cohen was named Best Newcomer at the 1999 British Comedy Awards for The 11 O'Clock Show, and since then, his work has been further recognised with two BAFTA Awards for Da Ali G Show, several Emmy nominations, a nomination for an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay, and a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his work in the feature film Borat. After the release of Borat, Baron Cohen stated that because the public had become too familiar with the characters, he would retire Borat and Ali G. Similarly, after the release of Brüno, Baron Cohen stated he would also retire the title character. At the 2012 British Comedy Awards, he received the Outstanding Achievement Award, accepting the award while reprising his Ali G character. In 2013, he received the BAFTA Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy.

Sources: Telegraph, ConsequenceofSound, MusicWeek