Production Of Freddie Mercury Biopic 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Put On Hold: Here's Why
Fox has halted the production of its upcoming Freddie Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, citing the unavailability of the film's director, Bryan Singer.
'Unexpected Availability' Of Director Bryan Singer
The studio issued a statement on Friday, Dec. 1, saying that the production of Bohemian Rhapsody has been suspended temporarily owing to the unforeseen absence of the director, who is also a co-producer on the upcoming project.
"Twentieth Century Fox Film has temporarily halted production on Bohemian Rhapsody due to the unexpected unavailability of Bryan Singer," the statement read.
The filming of the biopic, which stars Mr. Robot actor Rami Malek as the legendary Queen frontman, took place in the United Kingdom with New Regency and GK Films handling the film's production.
Fox did not specify when Singer will return to set or when the film's production will resume, but the film's December 2018 release date has remained unchanged for the time being.
Health Scare
Singer's reps later released a statement to BBC saying that there was a "personal health matter concerning Bryan and his family" and noted that the director "hopes to get back to work on the film soon after the holidays."
According to the publication, both Singer and a family member are suffering from a health problem. However, the nature of the illness is not yet known.
The filmmaker is 52 years old and his film credits include some popular titles such as The Usual Suspect, Jack the Giant Slayer, Superman Returns and four films from the X-Men franchise; X-Men, X-Men 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse.
Singer To Be Replaced?
Days before the film's production was put on hold, there were rumors surrounding Singer's absence from the film's set. The rumors claimed that the film was forced to take several breaks because the filmmaker kept going AWOL from the shoot in London and Singer failed to appear on set for three days before production was halted.
Industry sources are claiming that even before Bohemian Rhapsody's production hit a stumbling block, Fox had started discreet discussions with other directors who can replace Singer and complete the film.
The film is about two weeks away from principal photography, which means the new director will have to wrap up filming and overlook the post-production of the project, which also stars Ben Hardy, Gwilym Lee, Joe Mazzello and Lucy Boynton.
Despite the delay in production, Bohemian Rhapsody is slated to hit theaters on Dec. 25, 2018.
