"Nuclear Reactor" is a brand new segment in my blog that is basically me reacting to various happenings within the music industry. What could possibly be a more perfect opening topic than the recent drama regarding the on-again/off-again Queen biopic? For those who might not have heard, Queen is currently trying to produce a Freddie Mercury biopic in honor of their original singer "which is set to focus on the rise of the singer and the band's fame up to their iconic 1995 Live Aid performance" (E Online). For years, Sacha Baron Cohen has been in talks to play Mercury in the film. Long story short, creative differences between Cohen and the band led to Cohen leaving the project altogether.
Fast forward to Thursday, March 26, 2015. Queen's manager, Jim Beach announced at the 2015 Artist and Manager Awards that Sacha Baron Cohen was returning to the project not only to star as Freddie Mercury, but would also write & direct the biopic as well. After the news spread through the internet like wildfire, Queen's guitarist, Brian May issued a statement the following Saturday saying that what Beach had said was nothing more than "a small joke" (You can read May's full statement here on his website).
Fast forward to Thursday, March 26, 2015. Queen's manager, Jim Beach announced at the 2015 Artist and Manager Awards that Sacha Baron Cohen was returning to the project not only to star as Freddie Mercury, but would also write & direct the biopic as well. After the news spread through the internet like wildfire, Queen's guitarist, Brian May issued a statement the following Saturday saying that what Beach had said was nothing more than "a small joke" (You can read May's full statement here on his website).
I'm pretty upset, as are many other people right now. I'm not just upset that Cohen isn't tagged on the project, though that does disappoint me. No what really angers me is the shortsightedness of Jim Beach's "joke". You are a manager, meaning you play a huge role as a spokesperson and handle much of Queen's PR. The joke you said wasn't obvious in the slightest. Usually when people are being sarcastic, they use a combination of body language (hey that's a Queen song!), strict tone, and over exemplifying to convey the obviousness of one's sarcasm. That wasn't the case with you though Jim. You gave the information in the same format as you usually announce things, whether or not you realized it at the time. A great example of sarcasm done right in this scenario would be if you did the same announcement, but instead of listing Cohen, you listed Charlie Sheen. THAT would have actually been pretty funny to be honest! The difference is that not only does Charlie Sheen stray so far off from Mercury's character, but Charlie was never attached to the project. See that's the real kicker on why this was misinterpreted. That would be like Kevin Feige from Marvel Studios announcing that Edgar Write would be directing Ant-Man instead of Peyton Reed, only for Paul Rudd to give a statement a couple of days later that it was a joke. The obviousness just isn't there. It sounds like something that could realistically happen.
Speaking of which, it took TWO WHOLE DAYS for somebody to clear up that none of this was true? It's not like Brian May's statement was a 5 page long legal termed PR memo, hell even this very piece you're reading has more words. It makes me wonder if there's really more to this whole thing than just Jim Beach telling a joke. I'm not getting my hopes up though, I've had my soul crushed by this biopic far too many times to count now.
Speaking of which, it took TWO WHOLE DAYS for somebody to clear up that none of this was true? It's not like Brian May's statement was a 5 page long legal termed PR memo, hell even this very piece you're reading has more words. It makes me wonder if there's really more to this whole thing than just Jim Beach telling a joke. I'm not getting my hopes up though, I've had my soul crushed by this biopic far too many times to count now.
Oh well, at least I can just listen to more Queen to get through the pain :p