Bryan Singer fired from Queen biopic 'Bohemian Rhapsody'

Variety
Updated

Fox has fired Bryan Singer as director of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” three days after halting production due to the “unexpected unavailability” of Singer.

“Bryan Singer is no longer the director of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,'” the studio said Monday. Fox did not elaborate.

 

Filming has been taking place in the U.K. with “Mr. Robot” star Rami Malek in the lead role as Freddie Mercury. New Regency and GK Films are the production companies. The producers are Graham King, Singer, and Jim Beach. Denis O’Sullivan, Arnon Milchan, and Jane Rosenthal are the executive producers.

A source said the decision came following clashes between Singer and Malek and was caused by Singer’s absence from the set, necessitating the Dec. 1 production shut-down of the film.

Singer, who is 52, has directed films including “The Usual Suspects,” four X-Men movies including last year’s “X-Men: Apocalypse,” “Jack the Giant Slayer” and “Superman Returns.”

Ben Hardy is playing drummer Roger Taylor. Gwilym Lee (“The Hollow Crown”) will portray lead guitarist Brian May and Joe Mazzello (“The Social Network”) will tackle the role of bass guitarist John Deacon. Lucy Boynton is playing Mary Austin, lifelong companion of Mercury.

Mercury wrote numerous hits for Queen, including “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Killer Queen,” “Somebody to Love,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” and “We Are the Champions.”

Mercury formed Queen with May and Taylor in 1970 and died of complications from HIV/AIDS in 1991 at the age of 45.

Justin Haythe wrote the script. The film is slated for U.S. release on Dec. 25, 2018.

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