Leave it to Freddie Mercury to defy the odds.
Though the idiosyncratic genius wasn’t alive to see Bohemian Rhapsody in all its glory, Mercury’s time-honored legacy was very much alive and well within Fox’s biopic, in which Mr. Robot‘s Rami Malek lent his likeness (and his vocal cords) for what is undoubtedly one of the most impressive performances of 2018.
Brian May certainly thinks so, too, after the Queen legend told Newsweek (h/t Cinema Blend) that Malek simply disappeared into the role, and that no one – and we really mean no one – could have predicted Bohemian Rhapsody‘s blistering success.
Nobody expected it to be that huge. We thought it would do quite well. We didn’t expect it to be a record-breaking blockbuster… What an incredible performance [Malek] gives. He just became Freddie.
Bohemian Rhapsody‘s lifetime total currently stands at a mighty $714 million, cementing its place as one of 2018’s undisputed sleeper hits alongside Venom. That’s not to say that Dexter Fletcher’s star-studded biopic arrived with zero expectations, it’s just that few could have predicted a global tally in excess of $700M – that’s the territory reserved for four-quadrant blockbusters in the vein of Deadpool 2 ($735M), Ant-Man and the Wasp ($622M) and Mission: Impossible – Fallout ($791M).
Hell, Brian May has even gone so far as to suggest that Bohemian Rhapsody‘s eye-watering success could warrant a sequel, one which may well explore the twilight years of one Freddie Mercury. That would, in theory, narrow the window of opportunity to anytime between 1985 and 1991, though we can’t imagine audiences will flock to see Mercury’s decline in the same way they did with the historic Live Aid performance of 1985. But hey, as is always the case, time will tell.
