Back in December, at least six months before the first teaser trailer would drop, Bohemian Rhapsody director Bryan Singer was fired from the production. A report at the time cited the X-Men filmmaker’s apparent “unreliability and unprofessionalism,” while another indicated the production was momentarily shut down due to his “unexpected unavailability.” Either way, no one involved in the long-gestating biopic of Queen singer Freddie Mercury, starring Mr. Robot‘s Rami Malek in the central role, was willing to go on the record… until now.
According to Variety, producer Graham King revealed Singer would receive a directing credit for the film, despite his being fired and ultimately replaced by Dexter Fletcher. However, aside from mentioning Singer’s “personal issues,” the producer didn’t offer any other details:
“Bryan Singer is the credited director of the film,” producer Graham King said. “Basically, Bryan had some personal issues going on. He wanted to hiatus the movie to deal with them, and the movie had to get finished. That was what it came down to… It wasn’t about reinventing the wheel. We needed someone who would have some creative freedom, but work inside a box.”
Fletcher and Malek appeared at the 2018 CinemaCon in Las Vegas in April to promote Bohemian Rhapsody. However, Variety indicates the Eddie the Eagle and Rocketman director does not want the film’s directing credit. As for Singer’s initial firing, the director addressed the matter shortly after it happened in a statement, saying he “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.” However, he noted, “the studio was unwilling to accommodate me and terminated my services.”
As for the recent (and long-rumored) allegations of sexual misconduct involving underage boys, neither Singer, King, nor anyone else involved in Bohemian Rhapsody has publicly commented.
(Via Variety)
