Bohemian Rhapsody, the movie about Freddie Mercury and the musician's time with Queen, finally kicked off principal photography this past September after spending nearly a decade in development hell. But last Friday, it was reported that the production was being halted due to the "unexpected unavailability" of director Bryan Singer. At the time, Singer's absence was officially attributed to him dealing with a health matter in his family, but a separate statement said that he was hoping to get back to work on the biopic after the holidays. However, now we've learned that Singer has officially been fired from Bohemian Rhapsody.
Bryan Singer's firing comes not only after he unexpectedly disappeared from the Bohemian Rhapsody set several times, but also after he reportedly has numerous clashes with the movie's main star, Rami Malek, who plays Freddie Mercury. According to THR, Malek complained about Singer to the studio, accusing him of not "not being present on set, unreliability and unprofessionalism." Supposedly their disagreements were so bad that in one confrontation, Singer threw an object. Cinematographer Thomas Newton Sigel reportedly had to fill in for Singer on some days when he wasn't around, and actor Tom Hollander, who play Queen's manager, Jim Beach, apparently quit the movie temporarily due to Singer's behavior, though he was convinced to return.
After being warned by several 20th Century Fox bigwigs that they wouldn't tolerate anymore unprofessional behavior, Bryan Singer reportedly resolved his differences with Rami Malek. However, after Singer didn't return to the Bohemian Rhapsody set in London after the Thanksgiving holiday break (he's supposedly been in the United States for the last 10 days), Fox decided that was the last straw and have fired him. One source alleges that Singer is "suffering from post-traumatic" stress due to the drama during the biopic's production. Bohemian Rhapsody has two more weeks to go before wrapping principal photography, and Fox is expected to announce who will fill Singer's directorial shoes in the coming days.
This isn't the first time in 2017 that directors have been abruptly fired off a major motion picture in the middle of production. Back in June, Phil Lord and Chris Miller exited Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Ron Howard was brought in to replace them. However, while Lord and Miller's reasons for leaving were due to creative disagreements with Lucasfilm, Bryan Singer's firing is a combination of things getting downright hostile between him and Bohemian Rhapsody's lead actor, as well as his numerous disappearances. In any case, Fox clearly isn't wasting time trying to get things back on track, although it remains to be seen if this having a new director overseeing the production will require extra filming to be tacked on in order to ensure that Bohemian Rhapsody is the best product possible.
As things stand right now, Bohemian Rhapsody is scheduled to be released on Christmas Day, 2018. To find out when next year's other big movies will arrive, scan through our 2018 premiere guide.
