I have a soft spot for Sacha Baron Cohen.

I think he’s brilliant; especially in his mockumentary work, like ‘Ali G Indahouse’, ‘Borat’ and ‘Bruno’. ‘The Dictator’ was so-so. But his acting in ‘Talladega Nights’ and ‘Hugo’ hint at his dramatic range.

So I was quite happy to hear he was cast as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.

Now comes sad news that Cohen has dropped out. Apparently, the band wants a ‘family-friendly’ film, whereas he wanted ‘a gritty R-rated tell-all’.

I’m with Sacha Baron Cohen on this one.

Why not shoot two films at the same time? One could be the public-facing, successful singer story with lots of music. The other could be the private man, his sexuality and his decline with AIDS. One PG, the other R-rated. And Sacha Baron Cohen can star in both!

My take: I’m available to write and direct. I still remember when ‘Killer Queen’ came out on the radio and how electric and different it sounded; I think it might have been the first time I heard flanging.