Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Movie Lands New Director
Dexter Fletcher has been tapped to replace the recently fired Bryan Singer as director on the nearly completed Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. He'd earlier been attached to the film, before stepping aside.
That allowed Bohemian Rhapsody to quickly get back on track. According to Variety, filming on the recently stalled movie – which was originally thought to be on hold until the new year – will now instead resume next week in London. There are reportedly only two weeks of filming remaining on the project, which is still scheduled to be released on December 25, 2018.
Twentieth Century Fox, the studio behind the movie, did not specify a reason for Singer's dismissal. However, the Hollywood Reporter said that the director of four X-Men movies "routinely" showed up late to the set and clashed with Rami Malek, who will be portraying Freddie Mercury.
While Singer conceded that he and Malek had "creative differences," he insisted that they had been resolved and that the only reason he was absent from the production was to deal with a family illness.
"Bohemian Rhapsody is a passion project of mine. 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," he wrote. "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."
Fletcher has been an actor for over 40 years, landing his first role alongside Jodie Foster and Scott Baio in the 1976 mafia musical Bugsy Malone. He has directed two previous films, 2012's Wild Bill and last year's Hugh Jackman-starring Eddie the Eagle.