Queen's manager, Jim Beach, recently confirmed that comedian Sacha Baron Cohen will not only portray deceased frontman Freddie Mercury in a biopic, but he will also write and direct the film. Cohen and the surviving members -- guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor -- have sorted out their differences and will move forward with the movie. Beach made the announcement during a speech at the Artist and Manager Awards earlier this week, Consequence of Sound notes.
"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. "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."
The untitled movie is in the early stages of pre-production. No other casting announcements have been made.
Cohen walked away from the project last year following a difference in opinion regarding the direction of the film. May and Taylor wanted a more PG version while Cohen planned to produce "a gritty R-rated tell-all centered around."
Beach was candid about the role of a manager elsewhere in his speech.
"I do feel very strongly that management is a service industry, and managers have tremendous power in this business. But they always must remember that power comes from their artist and not from themselves," he said. "Because once a manager begins to feel like he's as big a star as the artist he's managing, he's completely f*cked."
Queen now performs with former American Idol contestant Adam Lambert.
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