Trouble at the Queen-movie set.

I’ve been (am) quite the fan of the British rockband: Queen. I honestly believe that Innuendo and I want it all are the best pop-songs ever written.

However, my love for the band has suffered quite a lot after the death of Freddy Mercury.
It has everything to do with the remaining band members continuing on as Queen with some random lead singer replacing Mercury for yet another concert tour. This would be fine if they actually made some new (good) songs. But basically the ‘new’ Queen is playing its greatest hits like a bad cover band.
But what really irks me is that whenever they are questioned about this they reply with something like: ‘This is what Freddy would’ve wanted!’
Now, truth be told it are mainly Brian May and Roger Taylor making those statements. John Deacon is happily retired. But from what the two main ‘culprits’ have stated Deacon is behind them all the way.

As far as you can believe those two.

I don’t like it when people start saying things like: ‘this is what he/she would’ve’ wanted.’ It rubs me the wrong way.

David Grohl simply started a new band The Foo Fighters after Kurt Cobain passed away and he’s quite successful with it. You don’t hear his saying stuff like: ‘This is what Kurt would’ve wanted.’ So why didn’t Queen do this? Why not accept the fact that nobody could replace Mercury and move on to the next challenge?
This is my view on the Queen revival of the last decade or so.

Getting the band together.

The movie
Then there were the  talks about a Queen movie dating back all the way to the early 2000s. My first reaction: Awesome!
Here we have a story fit for film. A flamboyant front man who –in his insecurity- never showed his true self to anybody. A person who is struggling with his sexuality. All of this set in the dangerous (for free love at least) ‘80s.

The movie writes itself: Mercury joins May’s band Smile. Smile becomes Queen. Wembley happens. Mercury dies. End of the movie.

There was even talk of Sasha Baron Cohen playing the lead part. A perfect fit in my opinion. This man is the definition of flamboyant and unafraid. And that’s not all: He actually looks like Mercury. He can act and sing (though I doubt anybody could copy the vocals of Mercury). It seemed like a match made in heaven.
But that wasn’t meant to be. Cohen left due to ‘creative differences’.

Now, normally, the phrase ‘creative differences’ is all a movie journalist gets. But this time these ‘differences’ were named in the press. As it turned Cohen wanted the movie to be all about Mercury from his youth to his death. While the remaining members of Queen (again: I don’t know if Deacon was involved) wanted the movie to be about the resurrection of the band after the passing of its lead singer.

So, basically, Freddy succumbs to his illness halfway through the movie and then we, the audience, have to sit through another hour of the remaining band members getting back together again.
That’s a difference in ‘wants’ that can’t be bridged.

As I wrote a few articles before: a first book adaptation should be close to the source material. Then, after that story is told, people are free to explore other nooks and crannies.
Whenever a movie of a known story comes out people desire ‘that what they know’ before ‘alterations’.

The same goes for bio-pics. You first tell the story straight and then you move on. In this sense the remaining members of Queen were already three steps ahead. And, by being this, they desire a movie that nobody at this current moment in time: wants!

Sufficient to say that each and every respond I read on the internet disliked this idea. Why? Because they (like me) want a true Freddy Mercury bio pic; not the stuff that happened after. But, then again, the Internet isn’t in control (yet) (thankfully). So we have to listen to what the remaining members of Queen want:

‘It’s what Freddy would’ve wanted!’

Going ahead
Finally after years of struggling to find the right studio Queen settled on Fox movie studios.
There they found a director in Brian Singer and a lead actor in Rami Malek.

There was even a rumor that Daniel Radcliff was going to star as Mercury. A rumour –leave it up to Radcliff- he hilariously debunked.

This already troubled production –with a very low ‘want’-factor- could finally get underway. Years after the initial plan was brought to the media.

The official plan was brought in 2010. Production started in 2016.

But then more troubles began. The main actor Malek and director Singer got into some serious fighting on set (a persistent rumour has Singer throwing stuff at the actor). And then Singer started to disappear from the set altogether for days on end. Now why is that?

The current MeToo event

Now, currently, there’s something going on in Hollywood.

Famous actors and produces are getting tackled left and right
because they couldn’t keep their zipper zipped.

One person in particular is constantly being fingered as the next one to fall.
This man is director Bryan Singer.

Rumours have been going on for years about the man and his fondness for younger folk.

But it is all rumour, all hearsay.

And, I for one, don’t want to brandish a person a sexual assailant without proof.

But, sufficient to say, basically the whole of the internet is waiting for the ‘hammer to fall’

* Sorry, I had to do this one.

So now the story goes that Singer has been fired from the Queen movie set because he was absent too often.
Three possible reasons are given for this: the fights with the main actor, the illness of a relative and PTST-syndrome due to difficulties on the film set.
It all sounds a bit strange to me to be honest. I can’t help but think that there is something else going on. But, then again, maybe the official statement is true? Maybe you can get PTST from a movie set?

You certainly could in John Ford’s day (look it up).

Whatever the reason being. Singer’s behaviour isn’t helping an already troubled movie.

He does look the part.

Fox being bought by Disney
Now there is news (as I had this article ready to go) that Fox has been bought by Disney. Whatever you wish to say about ‘the house of Mouse’ they do know their game. Disney has always given the audience what it wants and has rarely broken the mould. So for Disney this Queen-biopic will sound just as silly as it does to me.
I’m guessing they’ll release what they’ve got (under the Fox logo) and then release their version.

The state of the Queen
So to sum up, what do we have: We have a version of a movie nobody really wants (Mercury dying halfway through the movie – no thank you), a lead actor that would have been perfect leaving. A production riddled with fights. And a director who has issues overtaking his life/job.

‘It’s what Freddy would’ve wanted!’

I think Freddy is upstairs somewhere pulling all kinds of strings to prevent this movie from being made!