The long gestating movie about Queen seems to be one step closer to reality, with reports suggesting that director Stephen Frears (‘Dangerous Liasons,’ ‘High Fidelity,’ ‘the Grifters,’ ‘The Queen’) is in the running to helm the project.

As previously noted, the semi-infamous comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (‘Borat,’ ‘Ali G,’ this weekend’s ‘the Dictator’) is pegged to play the one and only Freddie Mercury. Now, according to Variety, Frears is first in the running to drive this film to reality.

The draft of the film is being written by Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson, known for their work on recent big-screen flicks about Muhammad Ali and Richard Nixon. Current reports state that the film will tell the band’s tale from their early days up through their legendary performance at Live Aid in 1985. The sad ending of Freddie’s life will, as of this writing, not be a major part of the storyline.

Producers have already secured a music-rights deal that includes many of Queen’s biggest hits. It’s the first time the surviving members of Queen have licensed songs and music publishing rights for a movie about the band. Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon formed ‘Queen Films’ to anchor their involvement with the production.

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