When it comes to the potential biopic about the legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, all attempts to get it going have ended up biting the dust. That doesn't mean that this latest news won't have staying power, but don’t call us a liar if it ends up falling through. Latino Review reports the latest star rumored to be involved with the project is British actor Dominic Cooper, probably best known for playing Iron Man’s father Howard Stark in Captain America: The First Avenger, and the recently released short film Agent Carter.
I don’t really get a good vibe off of this, as I’ve never seen Cooper in a role that he was really allowed to let loose on in the way that Mercury was known for. But he seems to be a fine actor regardless, and supposedly has a strong singing voice. This could definitely be the marquee role that makes him universally familiar to people who don’t watch superhero movies.
Even if this rumor is a serious one, Cooper would still have to be vetted by the surviving Queen members before he gets the role, and that could very well doom his chances. This whole project was spearheaded by satire extraordinaire Sacha Baron Cohen, who brought in screenwriter Peter Morgan (Rush). Though attempts were made to secure David Fincher and Tom Hooper for directing duties, Queen turned both of them down (I guess because they apparently have little interest in making the Freddie Mercury film critically acclaimed or something).
Cohen dropped out of the film a few months back, with Morgan following him. The Guardian reported last week that Queen’s Roger Taylor said that they wanted to make a movie, and that they weren’t interested in Cohen’s vision for the film because they didn’t “want it to be a joke.” Daniel Radcliffe was also said to be in talks for the part before he quickly squashed those rumors.
Cooper certainly hasn’t been in any films with the comedic reputation of Borat, so that would fit in with Queen’s plans. He starred earlier this year in Niels Arden Oplev’s crime drama Dead Man Down, and will soon be seen opposite Aaron Paul in Scott Waugh’s video game adaptation Need for Speed and Peter Howitt’s crime thriller Reasonable Doubt with Samuel L. Jackson. He’s currently filming the horror reboot/remake/update Dracula Untold for director Gary Shore.
Does anyone think this is real? And if so, is everyone behind this decision? I think it’s a “safe” choice, but I’m willing to keep an open mind. Maybe they should just go with the guy in the video below, who adapted “Bohemian Rhapsody” for his A Capella Science YouTube page. He certainly has the singing chops.
