In some surprising news, 20th Century Fox has fired director Bryan Singer from the upcoming Rami Malek-headlined Bohemian Rhapsody.
As of Friday, it was being reported that the production had been put on hold due to an unspecified health matter. Now, as initially broken by The Hollywood Reporter, Singer has been fired from the picture.
The original story on this stated that there was growing tension on set between singer and Malek – who is playing the legendary Freddie Mercury in the movie – but, while there seems to have been some sort of creative conflict between the pair at times, Singer has moved to confirm that he has indeed been fired and that it was due to one of his parents being unwell.
In a statement to Deadline, Singer explained:
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. 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. Rumors that my unexpected departure from the film was sparked by a dispute I had with Rami Malek are not true. While, at times, we did have creative differences on set, Rami and I successfully put those differences behind us and continued to work on the film together until just prior to Thanksgiving. I wanted nothing more than to be able to finish this project and help honor the legacy of Freddie Mercury and Queen, but Fox would not permit me to do so because I needed to temporarily put my health, and the health of my loved ones, first
As alluded to, there’s just over two weeks of principal photography remaining on the film – meaning that Fox will be looking to find a new director ASAP. At this stage, the plan is still for Bohemian Rhapsody to hit the big screen in December 2018, but expect more on all of this as it continues to develop.
