Freddie Mercury biopic to omit AIDS crisis
Image: Freddie Mercury. Image: Queen / Facebook
QUEEN has announced a new biopic based on the life of Freddie Mercury, but it may not be what viewers expect.
X-Men director Brian Singer has signed on for the film, with Rami Malek to star as Mercury, according to Pink News.
While Mercury was the highest-profile person afflicted by the AIDS crisis, it seems the film, to be titled Bohemian Rhapsody: The Film, will focus on the band rather than Mercury’s life.
Sacha Baron Cohen, who was previously set to star as Mercury, quit over “micromanagement” of the project and the band’s vision for the film focusing on the story of the band rather than an honest account of Mercury’s life, struggle with AIDS, and death.
The band announced on their blog that the film will “recreate the fabulous Queen years which brought us such unforgettable moments as Live Aid”, not mentioning Mercury’s personal life.
Brian May and Roger Taylor, executive producers for the new film, spoke highly of Malek.
“Rami has a great presence and he’s utterly dedicated to the project,” they said.
“He’s completely living and breathing Freddie already, which is wonderful.”
The band’s blog said the announcement of who will be playing the other band members in the film is “news for another day”.
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‘Mercury was the highest-profile victim of the AIDS crisis’ – I’m very disappointed with the Star Observer for using such stigmatising language about PLHIV. The term ‘victim’ hasn’t been used for ages. We would call out the straight media and we need to call out our own media for using such outdated terms too.
For all their chatter about tolerance, acceptance blah, blah, blah! these people are every bit as homophobic as Fred Nile, Tony Abbott, Andrew Bolt and Cory Bernardi.
Talk about re-writing history! Freddie WAS “Queen” and no matter how they try to hide it he had AIDS and that was what killed him.
This dishonest travesty of a film will be one we will be missing.
Stuffing ridiculous! Queen would not have been such a huge success if it wasn’t for the outrageous camp antics and the magical voice of Freddie Mercury! How will they finish the film, or doesn’t Freddie die in this? Wasting the truth of the film if the epidemic and death aren’t covered.
There’s one show I won’t be watching. Keep it real and cover it all – or go away.