Betting Lines On Freddie Mercury Biopic

With the news that actor Sacha Baron Cohen has pulled out of playing Queen frontman Freddy Mercury in a planned biopic, betting markets have sprung up on the actor most likely to replace him.

Current favourites include Michael Sheen at odds of 6/1 and Johnny Depp at 8/1 odds.

Cohen Exits Role of Mercury

Although he has been involved in the project to create a movie about the life and career of Freddie Mercury for several years, actor Sacha Baron Cohen has left the set after clashing with the remaining band members of Queen over the direction of the film.

According to media source Deadline, the band "wanted to make more of a PG movie about Queen," while Cohen "was banking on a gritty, R-rated tell-all about the gay singer.

Apparently, Cohen has been at odds with the band members for years, trying to appease their vision and explain that a tamed version of the film would not work in today's cutthroat movie industry.

But even after bringing in Peter Morgan to direct and The King's Speech director David Fincher to work on the project, Cohen has now admitted defeat and stepped away.

Possible Contenders to Act as Mercury

There are a number of serious contenders in the race to play Freddie Mercury, who died young of AIDS.

Charlie Sheen has quite a portfolio for playing real-life characters, such as Tony Blair in The Queen and Kenneth Williams in Fantabulosa. However, it is not clear if he can sing - obviously necessary to portray one of the most iconic singers of the 20th century.

Johnny Depp has played musical roles before and is one of the highest paid actors in the world. However, he bears little physical resemblance to Mercury, which could be a problem.

Jim Carrey is an excellent dramatic actor and the role of Mercury may be just what he needs to make a comeback after a few quiet years in Hollywood. However, it may be hard for audiences to get past his former joker character of Ace Ventura or other crazy roles he has played in the past.

Bet on Who Will Play Mercury

Paddy Power, the Irish bookmaker, has launched a betting market on the actor who will play Freddie Mercury in the next biopic on the star.

Ben Whishaw, Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Mark Strong - 20/1

Jamie Bell, David Morrissey, Joaquin Phoenix, Nicolas Cage, Daniel Radcliffe - 25/1