Production has been suspended on Bohemian Rhapsody due to a ‘health matter’ affecting Bryan Singer
20th Century Fox has suspended production on the upcoming Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, according to the BBC. This is reportedly due to a health matter affecting director Bryan Singer.
In a statement, the studio said, “Twentieth Century Fox Film has temporarily halted production on ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ due to the unexpected unavailability of Bryan Singer.” The director’s representative told the BBC that the reason was “a personal health matter concerning Bryan and his family… Bryan hopes to get back to work on the film soon after the holidays.” Though there is no information on the illness, Singer and a family member are both reported to be suffering from the health matter.
Sources told THR that Singer didn’t return to set after the Thanksgiving break, reportedly leaving the producers concerned about the production and “talking about potentially replacing him.” According to the site, there have been clashes between Singer and star Rami Malek. They also stated that Singer has disappeared before, from both the X-Men: Apocalypse and Superman Returns shoots.
Shooting for Bohemian Rhapsody has been taking place in the U.K. There isn’t expected to be a change in the December 2018 release date.
Bohemian Rhapsody, the most recent draft of which hails from Academy Award-nominated scribe Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything), will tell the story of Mercury, played by Rami Malek (Mr. Robot) and his iconic rock band, Queen. Queen formed in London in the 1970s and is known today for hits like “We Will Rock You,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Killer Queen,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” and many, many more. It hasn’t been specified exactly how much of Queen’s history will appear in Bohemian Rhapsody and there’s a good two decades between the band forming and Mercury’s tragic death in 1991.
In addition to Malek, the Queen band members will be played by Joe Mazzello, Ben Hardy, and Gwilym Lee. Bohemian Rhapsody is set to arrive in theaters on Christmas Day in 2018.
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