Sacha Baron Cohen Quits Freddie Mercury Film Over Differences With Queen Band Members; Johnny Depp Back In The Running To Portray The Iconic Singer?

Sacha Baron Cohen has quit from a movie about Freddie Mercury, a rock music icon and the lead vocalist of the band, Queen, due to creative differences with other band members, according to Deadline.

Reportedly, the surviving band members of Queen wanted the biopic to be a PG movie, while Cohen was looking forward to a tell-all R-rated flick based on the lead singer’s life. Cohen’s choice of people to develop the project, which included Peter Morgan, David Fincher and Tom Hooper, were not approved by Queen, adding to the discord.

The filming of the as yet untitled movie was expected to begin sometime in the spring and it was set for an early 2014 release.

“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,” Queen guitarist Brian May wrote on his website last October. “But of course Freddie is in so many ways very much alive. He must be wryly smiling somewhere !!!” May wrote on his website, adding that Baron has been cast as Mercury.

But, with Cohen opting out of the project, the movie might get delayed further.

With Cohen out, attention has once again shifted to Johnny Depp, who was reportedly in the running for the role. Calling Depp a "fantastic" person, May said, during a 2006 interview with The Independent, that Depp “would be a worthy counterpart for Freddie on screen.”

But, a report in UK’s Metro pointed out Cohen had clear advantages as he resembles the former Queen frontman, and also because he is a British actor. “Mr Mercury is one of the most legendary musicians ever produced by the UK – imagine a Brit playing Elvis Presley in a biopic? The American’s would never allow that. Sacha wins,” the report said.