The Freddie Mercury biopic has had possibly the hardest time coming to the big screen in history. First there were the fights with Queen over securing the rights. Then Sacha Baron Cohen entered talks to join the film in the lead role (a stroke of genius casting). Then Baron Cohen dropped out. Then he signed on. Then Queen wanted to take the film in a new direction and Cohen dropped out again. Then they finally found Rami Malek, who was here to stay. Then they tried to sign director Dexter Fletcher, who ended up stepping aside due to creative differences. He was replaced by Bryan Singer, who filmed most of the film before literally fleeing the set due to sloppy, haphazard working conditions and the coming #MeToo Movement, resulting in Fletcher returning to finish the film. It’s been quite a journey, but we finally have our first look at the finished product for Bohemian Rhapsody, the story of one of the greatest bands of all time.
Half a celebration of the band Queen (including Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, Gwilym Lee as Brian May, and Joseph Mazzello as John Deacon) and half a biopic of lead singer Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek), the film follows the meteoric rise of one of the greatest bands of all time, culminating in the legendary reunion at Live Aid.
Look, this film has had a rough go of it, I’m not very fond of writer Anthony McCarten, and the final result could be any variation of things (good, bad, mixed, a travesty, a masterpiece, etc.), but I can’t help but be excited. Queen is one of my favorite bands of all time, and watching the way their music is cut through this trailer just excites me to no end. Include what looks like a great Malek performance (I love the way he delivers the line, “I pity your wife if you think six minutes is forever”) and some great cinematography and editing, and this could be a great musical biopic. You can bet I’ll be there to see it on November 2nd. You can watch the trailer below.
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