Brian May has said reports Sacha Baron Cohen has rejoined the much delayed Freddie Mercury biopic are the result of a joke on behalf of Queen‘s manager Jim Beach.
The film had originally been earmarked for release last year when Sacha Baron Cohen was on board in the lead role back in 2012, but he left the production citing creative differences in 2013.
Stories over the weekend claimed he had surprisingly got back on board with the film, but those have been denied by guitarist Brian May, who’s written:
“There was a small joke that Jim threw in during his acceptance speech. He said that, in response to inquiries about the progress on the Freddie feature film, that Sacha Baron Cohen had been re-engaged to write, produce, and direct the film, as well as starring in all four major roles! I’m afraid some folks might have taken it seriously!”