Most producers may have learned to be extremely tight-lipped when dealing with the press and talking about upcoming projects, but musicians aren’t usually as in to towing the company line. As such, Queen guitarist Brian May up and told BBC One last year that he and his bandmates wanted Ben Whishaw to play Freddie Mercury in the deceased singer’s future biopic. At the time, producers on the project refused to back those claims up, but upon further review, it seems they’re in agreement with May and company.
According to Deadline, Whishaw has officially been hired to front the biopic and Dexter Fletcher has been hired to direct it. The former is probably best known for his work as Q in the recent James Bond flick Skyfall or for his role in the underseen, slyly brilliant Cloud Atlas. The latter directed the BAFTA-nominated Wild Bill. More importantly for the purposes of this project, he also directed Sunshine On Leith, which made heavy use of the Proclaimers’ musical catalog.
Thanks to his incredible career and his tragic death, Mercury is known both for the highs of his life and the lows. The highs involved playing to packed stadiums, scoring gigantic hits and gainging a reputation as one of the best frontmen in the history of Rock N Roll. The lows involved passing away from HIV/ AIDS and in doing so, convincing the entire world to completely reevaluate their thoughts on the disease and the horrendous toll it can take on anyone.
The producers haven’t given a scene-by-scene outline of what the biopic will cover, but it will reportedly focus on the good times and climax with Queen’s performance at Live Aid in 1985, a gig widely considered to be not only the best of the band’s career but one of the best ever given. It’s the logical ending point for an extremely happy moment, and it should be a great way to introduce a new generation to the almost otherworldly greatness of Mercury and his home run moustache.
Seriously, if you have twenty-five minutes to listen to some great music, check out the Live Aid performance. It’s all kinds of brilliant, and I’ve gone ahead and embedded a video of the action below….
