British band Queen confirmed that the Freddie Mercury biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" found its lead star. "Mr. Robot's" Rami Malek will play the role of the iconic singer and the movie will be helmed by "X-Men" films director Bryan Singer.
Queen announced on its official site that production for "Bohemian Rhapsody" will be in full swing in the next few weeks. The actual filming with Rami Malek and Bryan Singer, however, will take place in London by mid-September. “Rami has great presence and he’s utterly dedicated to the project," the band declared in the press release.
"He’s completely living and breathing Freddie already, which is wonderful.”
Over 12 years of development
It took the band more than a decade to develop the Freddie Mercury biopic. According to reports, Sacha Baron Cohen and Ben Whishaw were also considered for the part of the Queen front man, but the projects were abandoned due to creative differences between the artists and the producers.
It's still unclear who will play the rest of the band members -- Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon. Succeeding announcements about the cast are expected in the coming months.
The music legend's legacy
Freddie Mercury, the voice behind classic hits like "Bohemian Rhapsody," "We are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You," formed Queen with Brian May and Roger Taylor in the '70s.
Rolling Stone ranked Freddie Mercury among the top 20 greatest singers of all time. He was well-known for his operatic singing voice and he was one of the rare singers known for his four-octave voice range.
Freddie Mercury was also known for his flamboyance while performing on stage. He, however, never explicitly talked about his sexual orientation or used this to make a politically correct stance despite questions from the press.
In 1987, the singer found out he was positive for HIV but he hid his condition from the public for years. A day before his death in November 1991, the Queen front man released a statement to confirm his sickness.
Years later, Brian May talked about how Queen dealt with the singer's deteriorating health. Freddie Mercury was still making music even as his immune system failed him.
"Working and living with him, and seeing him suffer, was awful,” Brian May said in an interview with Sacramento Bee. “But in some ways, we were the closest we ever were in those last years."
Today, Freddie Mercury lives on in his songs. Meanwhile, there’s still no confirmed theater date for his biopic’s release.
