The Queen movie is finally taking off.
Queen was one of the most popular bands of the 70s and 80s, known for hits like “We Will Rock You,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Killer Queen,” and “Don’t Stop Me Now.” Its lead singer Freddie Mercury was a bravado performer with an unusually wide vocal range and voice. The band could rock out, culminating in what may be the single greatest concert ever made: Live Aid in 1985.
The band’s life went into tailspin when Mercury announced that he had contracted AIDS, which he succumbed to in 1991. But the band itself has remained insanely popular.
After spending eight years in development hell—with, at one point, Sacha Baron Cohen set to star—the film, entitled Bohemian Rhapsody, is finally greenlit. It’ll be releasing next year, helmed by Bryan Singer, the talent behind works like The Usual Suspects (1995), X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), and Valkyrie (2008).
And playing Mercury is none other than Egyptian-American actor Rami Malek, best known for Mr. Robot. It’s a nice little bit of casting, as Mercury, believe it or not, was actually the son of Parsis from Gujarat in Western India, born in what is now Tanzania. As ethnicity goes, it’s not spot-on casting, but it’s a step in the right direction in a Hollywood hell-bent on whitewashing.
The film is scheduled to begin production in mid-September; the website announcement said, “Fancy being in the film?” in a possible call for extras.
Not much is known about the film, aside from receiving the OK from surviving Queen members and somehow working Live Aid into the story. But still: exciting.
