Queen Movie to Rock its Way Out of Development Hell?
Deadline Hollywood reported on Friday that Rami Malek, winner of the best actor Emmy this year for his work on Mr. Robot, has been cast as Freddie Mercury in the upcoming Queen biopic to be led by X-Men director Bryan Singer. Let's just say, I'll believe it when I see it.
This production has been around for almost a decade, with actors and directors cycling in and out. Last November, British actor Ben Whishaw was cast as Mercury in a version of the movie we'll never see. About seven years ago, Borat's Sacha Baron Cohen was on board, and his casting felt so perfect that the project seemed to gather a bit of steam. However, Cohen clashed with producers and surviving band members over the direction of the film. Apparently, the original script had the death of Freddie Mercury at around the halfway point, with the rest of the film following the band as it continued to tour and make music. Not only does this signal some poor script-writing structure, but Cohen simply thought the idea was kind of silly, and honestly I've got to agree with him. Its admirable that Queen has continued on without Mercury, but that doesn't change the fact that without their leading man they were only a shadow of their former selves. Freddie Mercury was Queen, and any attempt to say otherwise will likely be rejected by fans and moviegoers.
As for the casting, I think Malek is a fantastic actor. He kills it regularly on Mr. Robot, and I loved him in the underrated indie gem Short Term 12 (If you're not familiar, just go watch it now and thank me later). The only reservations I really have are that I have never seen Malek perform with the sort of energy and charisma that drove Mercury's stage persona. Maybe he can pull it off, but as of yet I haven't seen any proof in his resumé. Likewise, Bryan Singer is a solid workhorse of a director. If nothing else the film will look appropriately slick and commercial. But his broad handling of the period scenes in X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse doesn't give me a ton of hope that the 70s and 80s won't look like parody that undermines the film's drama.
All of this grousing may be for naught, though, because this may just be yet another film that constantly updates its cast and production list while never really making it to the filming stage (I'm looking at you, The Crow remake). Thinking about how bland and cliché music biopics can be, this may not be a bad thing.
