Bohemian Rhapsody, a movie about rock band Queen, finds itself in major problems once again. The movie was announced a while back in 2010 and faced with numerous development problems from the start. It looked like everything was back on track when Bryan Singer took over as a director and Rami Malek joined the cast as Freddie Mercury in November 2016. Now, after the majority of the movie has been filmed, 20th Century Fox has fired the director Bryan Singer.
According to reports, the studio has fired Singer because the director has failed to return to set after Thanksgiving. There are also claims that Singer’s work ethic was questionable and he didn’t get along with Malek and the rest of the cast. Singer, on the other hand, puts the blame on the studio.
“Bohemian Rhapsody is a passion project of mine.” said Singer in his statement. “With fewer than three weeks to shoot remaining, I asked Fox for some time off so I could return to the U.S. to deal with pressing health matters concerning one of my parents. This was a very taxing experience, which ultimately took a serious toll on my own health. Unfortunately, the studio was unwilling to accommodate me and terminated my services. This was not my decision and it was beyond my control.”
Singer also admitted he and Malek had “creative differences on set”, but worked them out and successfully continued to collaborate after.
This, however, isn’t the first time Singer left the movie in the middle of production since he disappeared for some time when he was working on X-Men: Apocalypse.
It is reported that director of photography Thomas Newton Sigel will take directing responsibilities for now, although it isn’t clear if another director will come in and finish the job.
Bohemian Rhapsody is scheduled for release on December 25, 2018.
