Biopic of the greatest performer of all time: Freddie Mercury soon to hit the big screen

By Kara Michelle Aug 06, 2014 09:02 AM EDT

The life of Queen's charismatic frontman, Freddie Mercury will soon be realized in the big screen. Brian May, Queen's guitarist and Roger Taylor, drummer, have been exploring this idea way back 2010. Sacha Baron Cohen, who has an uncanny resemblance to the late frontman, was the first choice to play as Mercury. Cohen was just as excited and is honored to have been chosen, specifically by Mercury's bandmates, but later drops out of the project due to creative differences. May later explained that Cohen's presence would be a distraction to the biopic. Director Dexter Fletcher has also dropped out of the project due to the same reason with Cohen's.

British actor, Ben Whishaw, known as Q, the techie guru of James Bond, had replaced Cohen to continue with the project. Other cast members are yet to be finalized, though Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Kirsten Stewart, were rumored to be considered for the part of Mary Austin, Mercury's long-time friend and former girlfriend.

According to sources, the plot of the story will start from Queen's inception leading to their Live Aid performance, which was voted by the Music world, as the Greatest Live Act of all time. Queen, specifically Mercury, communicates with the 80,000 crowd at Wembley and a Billion people over the world via TV, with his iconic charismatic stage persona.

Mercury died of AIDS related disease on November of 1991. Recently, Queen's Greatest Hits Album, which was released in 1981, became the best-selling album of all time and they became the first group to have hit the 6 Million mark in the UK. The album includes their masterpiece, "Bohemian Rhapsody", which was a Mercury composition.

The film will be produced by Tribeca Studios, which is owned by Robert DeNiro. This is the same studio that produces the play "We Will Rock You" at the Dominion Theatre in London.

Shooting for the biopic is currently scheduled to begin anytime this year.