Brian May denies fallout with Sacha Baron Cohen

Brian May has said that contrary to reports there was no falling out between Queen and Sacha Baron Cohen over the planned Freddie Mercury biopic.

Baron Cohen walked away from the project last month, in which he was set to play the legendary frontman.

It was suggested that the band objected to Baron Cohen's plans to make a grittier version of Mercury's life, focussing on the hedonistic New York gay scene of the 80s.

[Why Sacha Baron Cohen walked from Freddie Mercury biopic]

But May has put such talk to rest.

“t's a shame that there were these sensationalist stories about him walking out. None of that was true,” he told Classic Rock magazine.

“So we're in a very good place with the movie, and we remain friends with Sacha and hopefully there will be another project that we will work on together in the future.

He added that the talk that Baron Cohen might have become 'a distraction' for the movie was correct, however.

“It's quite difficult to talk about because we owe Sacha a lot,” he went on.

“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.

[Queen on why Sacha Baron Cohen quit Freddie Mercury biopic]

“What led us to that conclusion was the last three movies that he's made – The Dictator, Les Misérables 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.”

The latest potential lead for the film is Ben Wishaw after Roger Taylor let slip plans on 'The One Show'.