Following the news late last week that the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was temporarily suspending production due to the "unexpected availability" of director Bryan Singer, it was announced earlier this week that Singer was fired from the movie. There are different accounts about why he was terminated from the project, but whatever the exact reason was, 20th Century Fox moved fast to find the creative mind to guide Bohemian Rhapsody through its final weeks of filming. Now we know who that person will be: Eddie the Eagle director Dexter Fletcher.
Fox has officially announced (via THR) that Dexter Fletcher is stepping in to fill Bryan Singer's directorial shoes on Bohemian Rhapsody. With Fletcher at the helm, cameras are expected begin rolling again on the biopic next week. Along with Eddie the Eagle, Fletcher's other directing credits include Wild Bill and Sunshine on Leith. As an actor, his resume includes appearances in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Band of Brothers, Stardust, Kick-Ass and Hotel Babylon. What's particularly interesting about Fletcher's recruitment is that back in 2013, when Ben Whishaw was expected to play Freddie Mercury, Fletcher was on board to direct Bohemian Rhapsody, but later departed reportedly due to creative disagreements.
Bohemian Rhapsody's behind-the-scenes troubles first became public last Friday when we learned that production had been halted. While the official reason provided for this was that Bryan Singer was dealing with a personal health matter concerning him and his family," other source stated that Singer had failed to return to the Bohemian Rhapsody set in London after the Thanksgiving holiday break, and that there was consideration into replacing him. Then on Monday, Singer was officially let go, the reason reportedly being that he frequently clashed with lead actor Rami Malek, who supposedly accused Singer of "not being present on set, unreliability and unprofessionalism." One of Singer's absences allegedly lead to cinematographer Thomas Newton Sigel filling in as the director on certain days.
However, Singer claimed on Tuesday that the real reason Fox fired him from Bohemian Rhapsody is because he needed to deal with a health matter concerning one of his parents, but Fox was unwilling to accommodate him. He also said that the rumor that his departure was sparked due to his disagreements with Rami Malek were false, and that the two had been able to put aside their differences. Whatever the fully story behind this directorial shakeup is, it looks like this is the end of Singer's relationship with Fox, as his production company, Bad Hat Harry, has had its offices cleared off the Fox lot.
Bohemian Rhapsody will cover a 15-year period of Queen's history, from the band's founding in 1970 to when they performed at Live Aid in 1985. Along with Rami Malek playing Freddie Mercury, the cast includes Ben Hardy, Gwilym Lee, Joseph Mazzello, Allen Leech, Lucy Boynton, Aaron McCusker, Aidan Gillen and Tom Hollander.
Bohemian Rhapsody is still scheduled to rock out in theaters on December 25, 2018. To see what other movies are coming out next year, read through our 2018 premiere guide.
