Jump to content

Bohemian Rhapsody (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by TechFilmer (talk | contribs) at 01:15, 7 December 2017 (→Filming: wrong principle). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Bohemian Rhapsody
Directed byBryan Singer
Dexter Fletcher[a]
Written byAnthony McCarten
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyNewton Thomas Sigel
Edited byJohn Ottman
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • December 25, 2018 (2018-12-25) (US)
Countries
  • United Kingdom[1]
  • United States[1]
LanguageEnglish

Bohemian Rhapsody is an upcoming biographical drama film written by Anthony McCarten.[3] It focuses on a 15-year period from the formation of Queen and lead singer Freddie Mercury up to their performance at Live Aid in 1985, six years before Mercury's death. The film stars Rami Malek, Ben Hardy, Gwilym Lee, Joseph Mazzello, Allen Leech, and Lucy Boynton. Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor are serving as the film's music producers.

Bryan Singer was originally hired to direct the film. However on December 4, 2017, after months of filming, he was fired for being absent from the production on multiple occasions and clashing with the cast and crew. Dexter Fletcher was hired on December 6 to complete the shooting and post-production. The film is scheduled to be released in the United States by 20th Century Fox on December 25, 2018.

Cast

Production

Development

Since Bohemian Rhapsody was first announced in 2010, the film has gone through a number of changes in cast and production team, prompting rumor and speculation if the film would ever get made. In a BBC interview published September 17, 2010, Queen's guitarist Brian May spoke about an upcoming film project concerning the history of the band. According to the interview, Sacha Baron Cohen was set to play Freddie Mercury with Graham King as co-producer. King was executive producer of the Muhammad Ali biopic Ali. Peter Morgan, the screenwriter for The Queen and Frost/Nixon, would write the screenplay.[11]

In an interview with Daily Record published April 27, 2011, May confirmed that the production was moving forward. He strongly approved of the casting of Cohen, but also had certain reservations about the possible direction the project might take. The band's concerns focused on avoiding any harm to Mercury's legacy.[12] In July 2013, Cohen left the project due to creative differences. Allegedly, he had wished to produce an adult-oriented film, while the band wanted to take a more family-friendly approach.[13] May confirmed later in 2013 that Cohen had left the project on good terms. Comments by May and Roger Taylor suggested that Cohen was too well-known as a comedian and prankster (due largely to his fictional personae Ali G and Borat), and that his presence in the film would be distracting.[14]

As a guest on The Howard Stern Show in March 2016, Cohen spoke about misunderstandings with the surviving members of the band about the intended subject and events of the film, in particular whether the story ought to continue past Mercury's 1991 death. He also mentioned artistic disagreements with the band over the composition of the production team, referring specifically to Morgan, David Fincher and Tom Hooper.[15]

Following Cohen's departure, in December 2013, Ben Whishaw was mentioned as a possible replacement to play Freddie Mercury. Also at this time, Dexter Fletcher was selected as the film's director.[16] Fletcher removed himself from the project early the following year, amid reports of creative disagreements with King.[17] In an interview with Time Out in the summer of 2014, Whishaw suggested that the film was not progressing well and that there had been scripting problems.[18] Whishaw exited the project soon afterwards.[19] Rumours followed in 2015 that Cohen had rejoined the project,[19] and also that Whishaw might return.[20]

In November 2015, Mike Fleming of Deadline.com reported that Anthony McCarten (scriptwriter for The Theory of Everything) had become attached to the project. Fleming also reported on rumours that the film had acquired the working title of Bohemian Rhapsody, after the band's most famous song.[20] A year later, on 4 November 2016, Fleming reported that Bryan Singer (director of The Usual Suspects) was in talks to take over the direction of Bohemian Rhapsody. Fleming also revealed that Rami Malek had been enlisted to play Mercury and that Bohemian Rhapsody was being fast-tracked by 20th Century Fox and New Regency.[21] It was reported elsewhere in 2015 that Johnny Flynn was due to play Roger Taylor, and that Gemma Arterton would play Mercury's partner Mary Austin.[22]

Appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on May 8, 2017, Malek confirmed that he had conducted recordings at Abbey Road Studios and had consulted directly with Taylor and May at Taylor's apartment.[23] In May 2017, Entertainment Weekly reported that Taylor and May were serving as the film's music producers.[23]

Casting

On November 4, 2016, it was announced that Rami Malek will star as Freddie Mercury.[24]

On August 21, 2017, additional cast members were announced, including Ben Hardy as drummer Roger Taylor, Gwilym Lee as lead guitarist Brian May, and Joseph Mazzello as bass guitarist John Deacon.[5] On August 30, 2017, it was reported that Allen Leech had been cast in the film to play Mercury's personal manager, Paul Prenter, who worked for him from 1977 to 1986 when he was fired for betraying Mercury by selling his personal information to the UK newspapers.[6]

On September 6, 2017, Lucy Boynton joined the cast of the film to play the love of Mercury's life, Mary Austin.[7] On September 11, 2017, Mike Myers joined the cast.[8] On September 22, 2017, Aaron McCusker joined the cast of the film to play the boyfriend of Mercury's life, Jim Hutton.[9] On September 26, 2017, it was announced that Aidan Gillen was cast as John Reid, Queen's first manager, from 1975–1978, and Tom Hollander is set to play Jim Beach, Queen's longtime manager, who took over in 1978.[10]

Filming

Pre-production began in July 2017 in the United Kingdom, with principal photography beginning in London in September 2017.[25] An exact replica of the 1985 Live Aid set at Wembley Stadium was recreated and brought to Bovingdon Airfield near Hemel Hempstead where it was set up for rehearsals on September 7, 2017.[26]

On December 1, 2017, The Hollywood Reporter reported that 20th Century Fox had temporarily halted production due to the "unexpected unavailability" of director Bryan Singer, with sources saying that Singer had failed to return to the set after the Thanksgiving week, leaving producers nervous about the state of production and started discussions about potentially replacing him.[27] Singer's absence was reportedly due to "a personal health matter concerning Bryan and his family"[28] however, other sources claimed that star Rami Malek and the crew had grown tired of Singer's behavior, reportedly showing up late to set and repeatedly clashing with Malek.[29] On December 4, 2017, Singer was fired as director, with about two weeks remaining in principal photography.[30] On December 6, 2017, Fletcher was announced as Singer's replacement.[31]

Release

Bohemian Rhapsody is scheduled to be released in the United States by 20th Century Fox on December 25, 2018.[32]

Notes

  1. ^ Singer, the film's original director, was fired from the film after months of shooting. Fletcher was hired to complete the film through two weeks of filming to post-production. It is unknown what the director credit on the final film will be.

References

  1. ^ a b "Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)". AllMovie. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "Film releases". Variety Insight. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  3. ^ Weintraub, Steve (1 December 2017). "'Darkest Hour' Screenwriter Anthony McCarten on Humanizing an Icon like Winston Churchill". Collider.com. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  4. ^ "Mr Robot star Rami Malek to play Freddie Mercury in Queen biopic". theguardian. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d Busch, Anita (21 August 2017). "Queen Pic 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Finds Bandmates In Ben Hardy, Gwilym Lee & Joe Mazzello". Deadline. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  6. ^ a b Busch, Anita (30 August 2017). "Allen Leech Joins 'Bohemian Rhapsody' As Paul Prenter, Freddy Mercury's Judas". Deadline. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  7. ^ a b Pedersen, Erik (6 September 2017). "'Bohemian Rhapsody': Lucy Boynton Joins Queen Pic As Mary Austin". Deadline. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  8. ^ a b Jr, Mike Fleming (11 September 2017). "Mike Myers Comes Full Circle With 'Bohemian Rhapsody'".
  9. ^ a b Busch, Anita (22 September 2017). "'Bohemian Rhapsody': Aaron McCusker Cast As Freddie Mercury Boyfriend Jim Hutton".
  10. ^ a b c Galuppo, Mia (26 September 2017). "Aidan Gillen, Tom Hollander Join Cast of Queen Biopic 'Bohemian Rhapsody'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  11. ^ "Sacha Baron Cohen to play Freddie Mercury". BBC News. 17 September 2010. Retrieved 22 September 2010.
  12. ^ "Sacha Baron Cohen is perfect to play Freddie Mercury but we can't mess up his legacy, says Brian May". dailyrecord. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  13. ^ Finke, Nikki (22 July 2013). "Sacha Baron Cohen Exits Freddie Mercury Biopic Over Creative Differences With Queen". Deadline.com. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  14. ^ "BRIAN MAY SPEAKS ON QUEEN BIOPIC PROBLEMS". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  15. ^ "Sacha Baron Cohen Says David Fincher Eyed Queen Biopic, Producers Wanted Freddie Mercury To Die Mid-Movie". 8 March 2016.
  16. ^ "Ben Whishaw joins Freddie Mercury biopic". BBC News. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  17. ^ "Dexter Fletcher Drops Out Of Freddie Mercury Biopic". www.yahoo.com. Yahoo News. 14 March 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ "Ben Whishaw says Freddie Mercury film is on hold". www.telegraph.co.uk. The Daily Telegraph. 6 August 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ a b "Sacha Baron Cohen rejoins troubled Freddie Mercury biopic". www.telegraph.co.uk. The Daily Telegraph. 28 March 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ a b Mike Fleming Jr (18 November 2015). "'Theory Of Everything's Anthony McCarten Scripting Freddie Mercury Pic For GK Films; Ben Whishaw In The Wings?". Deadline. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  21. ^ Mike Fleming Jr (4 November 2016). "Queen Movie Amping Up With Bryan Singer & Rami Malek As Freddie Mercury". Deadline. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  22. ^ "Freddie Mercury biopic starring Ben Whishaw 'will start shooting in June 2016'". www.nme.com. NME. 19 November 2015. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ a b "Rami Malek on playing Freddie Mercury: 'I could have my Beyoncé moment'". www.ew.com. Entertainment Weekly. 9 May 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  24. ^ ‘Mr. Robot’ Star Rami Malek to Play Freddie Mercury in Queen Biopic, Retrieved November 5, 2016.
  25. ^ Tartaglione, Nancy (16 July 2017). "Queen Pic 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Tunes Up For Fall Start With Bryan Singer, Rami Malek". Deadline. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  26. ^ "Live Aid 1985 set transported to field for Freddie Mercury biopic". Mail Online. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  27. ^ Fox Halts Production on Queen Biopic Due to Bryan Singer Absence The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  28. ^ Bryan Singer: Illness forces director to stop work on Freddie Mercury film BBC News. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
  29. ^ Fox Halts Production on Bryan Singer’s Queen Biopic Bohemian Rhapsody ScreenRant. December 1, 2017.
  30. ^ Bryan Singer Fired From Directing Queen Biopic After On-Set Chaos (Exclusive) The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  31. ^ Dexter Fletcher Replaces Bryan Singer On ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Deadline. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  32. ^ Romano, Nick (22 April 2017). "Steven Spielberg, Bryan Singer's Queen Film Land Awards Season Releases". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bohemian_Rhapsody_(film)&oldid=814128608"