MUMBAI: Sacha Baron Cohen, who showed his acting caliber in The Dictator is said to be taking singing lessons for his role as Freddie Mercury in a biopic of the singer.
Reportedly, Cohen is working with vocal coaches in Hollywood in a bid to copy the former Queen front man. He has also seen hours of Queen concert footage and private videos of Freddie in reflective and sombre mood.
"Sacha is a huge Queen fan and is focused on getting Freddie‘s mannerisms, style and speech perfect. He is working on building his vocals. It is an uphill task, because Freddie has such a unique power and tone," a source said.
Cohen recently wowed fans with his vocals in the film version of musical Les Miserables.
Tag: Sacha Baron Cohen
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Sacha Baron Cohen polishing vocal chords to play Mercury
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Sacha Baron Cohen edges out Tom Hanks and Brad Pitt to be Britain‘s highest-paid star
MUMBAI: Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who played President Prime Minister Admiral General Haffaz Aladeen, in the 2012 film The Dictator has been named Britain‘s highest paid Hollywood star.
He drew over 20 million pounds in 2012 thanks to box office success of The Dictator and Les Miserables.
The 41-year-old also added to his earnings with payment for his role as the voice of the lemur King Julien in Madagascar 3. This helped him earn more than fellow countryman Robert Pattinson.
The actor outran Tom Hanks (17 million pounds) and Brad Pitt (16 million pounds).
The list was topped by the 50-year-old Tom Cruise whose films like Jack Reacher and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol earned him 48 million pounds in 2012.
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Snow White displaces MIB 3
MUMBAI: Kristen Stewart-starrer Snow White and the Huntsman overtook Men in Black 3 (MIB3) by making $ 56.3 million in its first weekend. Incidentally, Men in Black 3 was at the number one last week.
The third installment of Men in Black film franchise, pulled in an estimated $ 29.3 million while The Avengers also fell to the Number 3 spot adding approximately $ 20.3 million to its overall domestic gross.
Earning a better-than-expected domestic gross, the Rupert Sanders film enabled Universal Pictures claim a victory after its last film Battleship met with a bad fate.
“It‘s a big relief. From the get-go, the filmmakers, the cast and the studio conveyed how very unique this movie was and that its appeal would go beyond the usual Snow White audience,” president of distribution at the studio Nikki Rocco has reportedly said.
Other than Snow White, Ridley Scott‘s 3D sci-fi spectacle Prometheus grossed $ 35 million at the box office.At the fourth place was Battleship that raked in an estimated $4.8 million in its third weekend while Sacha Baron Cohen‘s The Dictator is still behind the action, sci-fi film with approximately USD 4.7 million.
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Tajikistan bans The Dictator
MUMBAI: Film theatres in Tajikistan will not show Sacha Baron Cohen‘s new comedy film The Dictator.
The Dictator, directed by Larry Charles, is the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed, says its promos.The licensing department of state cinema and video company Tajikkino said that the film has not undergone mandatory licensing and censoring procedures. Therefore, cinema halls that show the film could be fined.
The film premiered on 17 May in other Central Asian countries and in Russia.The Dictator has also been banned in Turkmenistan.
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Star World to telecast ‘Golden Globes’ live on 16 January
MUMBAI: Star World is ready to kick off the year with the live telecast of the 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards on 16 January at 6.30 am and a prime – time special telecast at 8 pm.
This year the film that that leads the race as the most nominated film overall is Babel, which receives seven nods, including one for Best Motion Picture (Drama). Clint Eastwood has drawn dual director nods for his World War II epics Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, while Leonardo DiCaprio grabs two nominations for his starring roles in The Departed and Blood Diamond.
The British comedy actor Sacha Baron Cohen is nominated Best Actor (Comedy or Musical) with his controversial comedy film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, which will also compete with The Devil Wears Prada, Dreamgirls, Little Miss Sunshine and Thank You for Smoking for the award of Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical). Beyoncé Knowles received a nod for Best Actress (Comedy or Musical) for Dreamgirls, while Jennifer Hudson, the American Idol runner-up turned Golden Globe front-runner, received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress (Comedy or Musical), informs and official release.
For television, Heroes, the brand new drama series, has been nominated for two awards – Best TV Series (Drama) and Best Supporting Actor (Drama). Masi Oka, the Japanese actor who propelled his way from anonymity into one of the most beloved characters of the show, will compete with veteran character actors like Jeremy Irons and Jeremy Piven, for the acting award.
Apart from Heroes, another brand new series Ugly Betty is also generating almost the same amount of attentions, receiving two nods – for Best TV Series (Comedy or Musical) and Best Actress for America Ferrera’s leading role. The other hot newcomer is 30 Rock, for which Alec Baldwin has been nominated for the award of Best Actor (Comedy or Musical). He is competing against Zach Braff (Scrub), Steve Carrell (The Office), Jason Lee (My Name is Earl) and Tony Shalhoub (Monk).
Also in the centre of the Golden spotlight is Grey’s Anatomy. The medical drama has received four nominations, including Best TV Series (Drama). Patrick Dempsey is nominated for Best Actor, when Ellen Pompeo and Katherine Heigel receive nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Last year’s winner of Best TV Series (Comedy or Musical), Desperate Housewives, is back again this year to do battle with Entourage, The Office, Ugly Betty and Weeds, adds the release.
The evening will welcome star-studded presenters like Reese Witherspoon, Felicity Huffman, Salma Hayek, Ben Stiller and Justin Timberlake, George Clooney, Rachel Weisz, Sarah Jessica Parker, John Stamos, Cameron Diaz, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hilary Swank, James Woods amongst others.
Warren Beatty will receive this years’ Cecil B. DeMile Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, who organizes the event, for his outstanding contribution to the entertainment field. The Golden Globes honour outstanding achievement in both motion pictures and television, making it one of the few ceremonies to cover both industries.
The telecast for the same will follow the schedule below:
– 16 January at 9am HKT (Live), 8pm HKT (prime-time special telecast)
– 17 January at 00:20am and 11am
– 21 January at 12pm (repeat).