Queen 'Want Ben Wishaw To Play Freddie Mercury'
QueenstarSacha Baron Cohen left the big-screen project [uuid=d53b755c-518a-42fd-afe4-9f814fe0be14]some months ago[/uuid] due to creative differences - and the band have insisted that stories about SBC walking out were made-up.
Guitarist Brian May told Classic Rock: "It's quite difficult to talk about because we owe Sacha a lot. He had so much enthusiasm for the project and it really helped us kick it into the start position. But in the end we felt that his presence in the movie would be very distracting.
"What led us to that conclusion was the last three movies that he's made – The Dictator, Les Miserables and Hugo – in which he makes outstanding performances, but they're very much Sacha Baron Cohen performances. And we thought there has to be no distraction in the Freddie movie.
"You have to really suspend that disbelief – the man who plays Freddie, you have to really believe is Freddie. And we didn't think that could really happen with Sacha.
"That's not any criticism of his talent whatsoever, it's just a feeling that it was not going to work – that the pieces didn't fit together anymore. But we parted company on very good terms."
"It's a shame that there were these sensationalist stories about him walking out. None of that was true."
And he hints that the announcement of a replacement could be imminent.
"I can't really say who it is, but I think we're close. We're in good shape."
But drummer Taylor appears to have let the cat out of the bag during an appearance on The One Show.
He told hosts Alex Jones and Chris Evans that their preferred actor's initials are "BW".
And when Ben Wishaw's name was suggested by Jones, he said: "Well, we hope so."