Freddie Mercury biopic “finally happening”, band confirms

“Yes folks, it IS finally happening…” Queen announced on their official website, regarding swirling rumours that the biopic of legendary frontman Freddie Mercury was back underway.

The production had been struck with false starts over the past 10 years, including actors such as Sacha Baron Cohen and Ben Whishaw signeing up for the lead rolebut then the deals falling through.

Playing the iconic star was always going to be difficult - Mercury was a charismatic frontman, full of outrageous ideas for the band’s show production (including him arriving on stage on an elephant), videos and costumes.

Now it looks as though the project is officially set to begin, with Bryan Singer as director and Rami Malek as the lead in Bohemian Rhapsody The Film.

Queen added that Bryan Singer "is the man who will be bringing the Queen and Freddie story alive".

“If you’ve ever seen Singer’s X-Men films, or the ground breaking movie The Usual Suspects, you’ll know this is a director with extraordinary imagination and style," the band stated.

“A perfect choice to recreate the fabulous Queen years which brought us such unforgettable moments as Live Aid, which we can reveal will be faithfully recreated for a key sequence the film. More on that very soon."

Queen drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Brian May are executive producers on the project, and enthused that Malej was the "perfect fit" for depicting Mercury’s distinctive traits. 

“Rami has great presence and he’s utterly dedicated to the project," they said.

“He’s completely living and breathing Freddie already, which is wonderful.”

Who will play the Queen members is yet to be announced, however pre-production begins in London this week with principal filming set to start in mid-September.

It’s due for release in December 2018.