Johnny Depp to play Freddie Mercury?

Johnny Depp's performance as a fey swashbuckler in Pirates of the Caribbean was apparently modeled after the Rolling Stones' Keith Richards, so don't be surprised if the Oscar nominee goes one step further and plays an actual rocker.

And indeed, word has it that Depp is the leading contender to play Freddie Mercury in a new biopic of the gay Queen frontman, who died in 1991 from AIDS-related complications.

Robert De Niro's Tribeca Productions is said to be behind the film, which makes sense since De Niro was a major backer of We Will Rock You, the stage musical featuring Queen songs that was a hit in London and Las Vegas.

It will be interesting to see if Depp can handle the vocals on "Bohemian Rhapsody," but at least we already know he looks awesome in eyeliner.