Rami Malek to play Freddie Mercury in biopic

• Scott J. Davis


• 7 Nov 2016

The long-gestating biopic of legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody, may have concluded its long search for both a star and director with news from Deadline that the project is set to go ahead very soon. Emmy-award winning actor Rami Malek, star of hit series Mr. Robot, is set to take the lead role in the film of Mercury in the film, a role which was originally set to be played by Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat).

In addition, X-Men: Apocalypse director Bryan Singer is said to be in talks to take over directing duties on the film. With the film set up at 20th Century Fox, home of the X-Men franchise, Singer would be a good choice for the studio. Graham King (Allied) is producing amongst others.

Andrew McCarten (The Theory of Everything) and Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon) have both written drafts of the screenplay (McCarten’s is the newest), which will tell the story of Mercury and Queen, though the definitive timeline of the biopic is still to be announced. Mercury himself tragically died in 1991.