Freddie Mercury biopic to be released in 2014

Credit: Dave Lifton

Few rockers have lived a life as deserving of a biopic as Queen‘s Freddie Mercury. Apparently, people in Hollywood agree, because yesterday (Oct. 10) guitarist Brian May spilled the news that such a film is in the works.

On his website, May confirmed that plans are underway for a movie starring Sacha Baron Cohen, the creator and star of ‘Da Ali G Show’ and ‘Borat,’ as Mercury to begin filming next spring, with a release coming a year later. May’s post was as follows:

Ah … I promised news of yesterday’s Queen band meeting. Well, it was just Roger and Jim Beach and myself … we are a small cottage industry !! Our main agenda was the Freddie film … which, I’m happy to tell you, is on course. Much of our discussion was about contractual things … it’s pretty complex …. and determining who is responsible for what. The pieces are all falling into place, though we are now on a slightly later schedule – filming is now scheduled to start in the Spring, with Sacha Baron Cohen playing Freddie. The film should be ready for release early in 2014.

As much as Baron Cohen, known for playing flamboyant characters, can probably do a very credible job playing the late singer, there is the issue of his height. Baron Cohen is listed at 6’3″, a good six inches taller than the 5’9″ Mercury. Still, it does make us wonder who will play the other members of the band.

May also mentioned that, at the meeting, the band made other plans, but refused to divulge the news beyond the tease. He concluded by saying that, “Being in Queen is — bizarrely — as full of surprising twists and turns as ever — 40 years since we first got together, and 20 years after losing Freddie. But of course Freddie is in so many ways very much alive. He must be wryly smiling somewhere !!!”

Oscar-nominated screenwriter Peter Morgan - who was behind 'The Queen' and 'Frost/Nixon' screenplays - will pen the script and the film is being co-produced by Robert DeNiro's TriBeCa Productions.


 

ABC’s ‘Nashville’ Presents Icons: Freddie Mercury & Adam Lambert. David Bowie & Gaga, And The Two Justins

Credit: ABC

With tonight’s (October 10) kickoff of ABC’s Nashville — a series that explores the lives of country music veteran Rayna James (played by Connie Britton) and determined up-and-coming ingenue Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere) — we decided to take a closer look at the thin line between some of pop’s icons and the current crop of singers they’ve inspired.

We start our examination by highlighting the parallels between heartthrobs Justin Timberlake and Justin Bieber, two men (yes, Bieber’s a man now) who’ve collectively made music-lovers’ tickers go pitter-pat over the past 15 years.

Next up we point out the unmistakeable similarities between Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and American Idol alum Adam Lambert. The obvious connection between the two is not something that was lost on Queen’s surviving members Brian May and Roger Taylor, as they’ve enlisted Adam to perform on stage with them several times.

We also delve into the influence rock’s great chameleon David Bowie has had on Lady Gaga‘s career. From their respective androgynous stage personas to their theatrical performances, the Thin White Duke and Mother Monster have mastered the art of capturing the attention — and the imagination — of the masses.

Watch our look at these pop icons the artists who look up to them above, and tune in to Nashville on ABC tonight, at 10 p.m. EST.


 

Queen’s "Hungarian Rhapsody" Concert Film Being Released in Multiple Formats Next Month

The Queen concert movie focusing on an historic 1986 performance in Budapest, Hungary, during the band’s final tour with late frontman Freddie Mercury will get its retail release in a variety of formats on November 6.  Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen Live in Budapest ’86 features 5.1 surround sound audio and digitally remastered footage of the show, which took place in front of tens of thousands fans at the city’s Nepstadion.

Hungarian Rhapsody will be available as a DVD, Blu-ray, two-CD/DVD set and two-CD/Blu-ray package, and also will be sold as a digital-video and digital-audio download.  The CDs feature a few additional performances not featured in the film.

The DVD and Blu-ray will include a new 25-minute documentary titled A Magic Year that captures Queen in the months after the group’s famous 1985 set at the Live Aid festival in London through to their Budapest show in July 1986.  The film boasts rare and previously unreleased scenes of the band members on tour and in the rehearsal studio.

Here is the complete track list for the Hungarian Rhapsody DVD and Blu-ray:

“One Vision”
“Tie Your Mother Down”
“In the Lap of the Gods”
“Seven Seas of Rhye”
“Tear It Up”
“A Kind of Magic”
“Under Pressure”
“Who Wants to Live Forever”
“I Want to Break Free”
Guitar Solo
“Now I’m Here”
“Love of My Life”
“Tavaszi Szél Vizet Áraszt”
“Is This the World We Created…?”
“Tutti Frutti”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“Hammer to Fall”
“Crazy Little Thing Called Love”
“Radio Ga Ga”
“We Will Rock You”
“Friends Will Be Friends”
“We Are the Champions”

Extra: A Magic Year documentary

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