A new film that will depict the life of rock and roll legend, Freddie Mercury, is going forward with Dexter Fletcher to direct. Fletcher is better known as an actor from LOCK STOCK and TWO SMOKING BARRELS and the British TV series PRESS GANG.
Starring as Freddie Mercury will be Ben Whishaw who played the young Q in the last James Bond movie, SKYFALL. Other actors considered for the part included Sacha Baron Cohen and pop star Mika.
Rockers of a certain age will remember Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ a hit back in 1975, and ‘We will Rock You’ and “We are the Champions” – hits back in 1977. Commercially, Queen has not had a Top 10 hit in the US since 1980’s ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ and ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ but their rock opera style has been hugely influential.
Pop culture Hollywood Trivia: Did you know that Lady Gaga got her stage name from the Queen song, ‘Radio Gaga?’
There will be a lot of challenges to make this film. First of all, Freddie Mercury occupies a unique place in rock history. As the lead singer of Queen, a huge 70s and 80s arena band, Freddie Mercury usually tops every music critic’s list of best rock voice ever. So who will be supplying the soundtrack to this film? Ironically, Mika is one of the few singers who has the vocal chops to sound like Freddie Mercury.
Secondly, Mercury’s death of AIDS in 1991 made him an early celebrity casualty. In fact, he was one of the UK’s biggest celebrities who dodged journalists’ questions about his sexuality and had been criticized for not disclosing his HIV positive status for a number of years.
Since the surviving members of Queen are producing this project (along with GK Films), they have an interest in preserving the band and Mercury’s legacy. How accurate and how sympathetic will the film be? Sacha Baron Cohen’s departure from the project in July was because of creative differences with the band. Queen guitarist Brian May said, “We thought there has to be no distraction in the Freddie movie. You have to really suspend that disbelief. The man who plays Freddie, you have to really believe is Freddie. And we didn’t think that could really happen with Sacha.”
The other challenge is that there tends to be a small movie-going audience for biographies so how this Mercury biography will be distributed will affect its audience reach. Amanda Seyfried‘s LOVELACE, a low budget $10 million project has grossed less than $500k to date. Aaron Taylor-Johnson‘s acclaimed NOWHERE BOY, about the teen years of John Lennon, has grossed less than $1.5 million. Todd Haynes’ $20 million experimental I’M NOT THERE – a biography of Bob Dylan – was another bomb, grossing less than $5 million.
Of course there are big studio biopics. Chris Hemsworth’s RUSH, about legendary race car driver James Hunt, was a $38 million flop with only $26 million in box office receipts to date. And that’s with Ron Howard as director! Even Oliver Stone’s THE DOORS – with Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison – bombed at the box office!
And now there’s the cable TV route. Michael Douglas’ acclaimed performance as Liberace in BEHIND THE CANDELABRA was a ratings hit for HBO. So perhaps the nostalgic are happy to watch a biography in the comfort of their own home?
Whatever the commercial potential of this film, there’s no doubt that Ben Whishaw will be closely scrutinized for his depiction of Freddie Mercury. If he does well, Whishaw can expect accolades and awards. Back in 2001, GK Film’s ALI – the story of Mohammed Ali – powered Will Smith to an Oscar nomination. Jamie Foxx nabbed an Oscar for his portrayal of Ray Charles in 2005. And back in 1984, the biography AMADEUS was a huge commercial and critical hit that rolled in Oscar gold.
Time will tell if there’s an audience for a Freddie Mercury biography, but Ben Whishaw’s fans are eagerly awaiting him to rock us!
CLICK HERE for Deadline’s story on Ben Wishaw and the Freddie Mercury Bio-pic.
