Sacha Baron Cohen to play Freddie Mercury in biopic: it was a joke, says Brian May

The weekend between March 27 and 29 was shaken by the news of comedian Sacha Baron Cohen enlisted to star in the role of Freddie Mercury in the long rumoured biopic on the life of the legendary Queen singer.

On Thursday, March 27, indeed, Billboard reported that Queen manager Jim Beach spoke at the Artist & Management Awards in London saying: "You have probably followed the saga of the famous Queen-Freddie Mercury biopic which has been developing in Hollywood for the last seven years. An important breakthrough is that we have now managed to persuade Sacha Baron Cohen to write, produce and direct this movie, and he has also agreed to star".

Cohen was, originally, chosen for the part due to his striking physical similarity to Mercury, but the actor left the project in July 2013, due to deep creative differences with the remaining members of Queen over the film's direction and tone. But his comeback is lass than confirmed. Indeed guitarist Brian May, posted a clarification on his blog to explain that it was all a joke:

[Beach] said that, in response to enquiries 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.