As someone who was heavily involved in the creation of Bohemian Rhapsody, Brian May knows a thing or two about how 20th Century Fox’s music-fueled biopic fell into place.
Indeed, while chatting to Louder Sound (h/t The Express), the world-renown guitarist admitted that Queen’s Live Aid performance of 1985 was always earmarked to be the centerpiece of Bohemian Rhapsody, as he considers it to be the band’s one true pinnacle.
That’s not to say it was all downhill from there – far from it, in fact. Rather, the Live Aid performance served as a fitting crescendo to Freddie Mercury’s blistering rise to fame. But there’s still more story to be told. As May points out, if Fox goes down the route of a potential sequel, it could well explore Freddie’s twilight years between 1985 and 1991.
No. I think there’s a natural culmination there. And that has pretty much always been the case, from the earliest scripts. We felt that was the pinnacle – despite what some people have said in the press, who know f***-all about it. Somebody, who shall be nameless, said: ‘Oh, they’re going to portray Freddie dying in the middle of the movie, and then the rest of it is gonna be about life without Freddie.’ Well, complete bulls***. This is all about Freddie, and I think Live Aid is a good point to leave it. Who knows, there might be a sequel [laughs].
It does beg the question, though: do we really need a movie about Freddie Mercury’s trials and tribulations. The flamboyant performer was only 45 when he lost his battle with AIDS, so we can’t imagine audience members will be flocking to see such a heart-wrenching story, particularly after Bohemian Rhapsody delivered a ‘warts and all’ account of Mercury’s breakout – even if there are some who believe the film could’ve ventured a little deeper.
But what say you? Is Bohemian Rhapsody ripe for the sequel treatment? Or is Freddie Mercury’s legacy better off left alone? Let us know.
Published: Dec 13, 2018 05:59 pm