EXCLUSIVE: It’s back to the drawing board for a director on the untitled movie about Queen frontman Freddie Mercury that Graham King‘s GK Films is making at Sony. King has quietly parted ways with British actor-turned-helmer Dexter Fletcher, who got the job after directing the musical Sunshine On Leith. I’ve heard that the two didn’t see eye to eye on what will be an R-rated pic about Mercury, who’ll be played by Ben Whishaw. I’m told the actor is still firmly in place but their hope to keep production on pace might be optimistic, given that Whishaw is booked for the next James Bond picture. Whishaw stepped in after Sacha Baron Cohen dropped out in what has been a struggle to get the film just right before starting production.
They went as far as starting soft preproduction on a film that was skedded to begin shooting in the summer. I had heard that perhaps Sony was wavering, but the studio adamantly denies it. They hope to keep close to that start date and name a new helmer shortly. With the band’s songs part of the package, the pic will tell the formative coming-of-age story of the group, culminating in Queen headlining Live Aid in 1985 and not on Mercury’s death on November 24, 1991, of complications from AIDS. Script is by Peter Morgan and King’s producing with Tim Headington and Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal’s Tribeca Productions, and Queen Films. Among the tunes that are in the rights package are “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions,” “Another One Bites The Dust” and ”You’re My Best Friend.”
mickyparise wrote:
I’ve heard that the two didn’t see eye to eye on what will be an R-rated pic about Mercury,
Just last year we heard that SBC was the one who wanted to make this an adult movie, and some people at QZ were jumping for joy when the movie would focus on music.
Now we hear that the reason for his departure was entirely different.
[sarcasm]What a shocking turn of events.[/sarcasm]
The Freddie Mercury Bio pic will never get the go ahead because anyone endorsing this or putting their name to it is always open to aggressive litigation from me.
Anyone with half a brain by now, must realise that I am a clone of Freddie Mercury and I am indemnified by the United States Government.
Incidentally, when Sacha Baron Cohen uses the phrase "is it because I as black", this idea came from me at 18 years of age, when I was being persecuted as a clone of Freddie Mercury/Michael Jackson whilst trying to enter the work place. Obviously Michael Jackson had been black originally, hence my joke back in 1998.
This is where Sacha's joke actually came from, and this piece of dirt is in deep trouble if he tries to cash in my intellectual property in the future.
Graham
My God,everything related to Queen productions is becoming nothing short of a calamity.No Hammersmith DVD,no rainbow DVD,Adam fuckin Lambert and the endless Texas's by Brian about possible future releases which amount to nothing. If ever there was a person/company who had the opposite to the Midas touch,Queen Productions would be it with this latest shambolick affair over the film.I give up!
mickyparise wrote:
I’ve heard that the two didn’t see eye to eye on what will be an R-rated pic about Mercury,
Just last year we heard that SBC was the one who wanted to make this an adult movie, and some people at QZ were jumping for joy when the movie would focus on music.
Now we hear that the reason for his departure was entirely different.
Actually, Brian has said many times that it was SBC's publicist that said that, not SBC.