The Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody," has shattered expectations and reached a massive $50 million launch in North America, becoming the second-biggest start of all time for a music biopic, just behind 2015's "Straight Outta Compton." "Straight Outta Compton," made $60.2 million during its opening weekend in the US. Overseas, "Bohemian Rhapsody," brought in $72 million at the box office.
Reviews for "Bohemian Rhapsody" were mixed, despite high praise for Rami Malek's performance as flamboyant Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury. Despite negative reviews, the film is still a massive success, with audiences rating the film a 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Audience members were drawn to hear Queen's hit anthems like "Another One Bites the Dust" and "We Will Rock You."
'Bohemian Rhapsody' builds on success
"Bohemian Rhapsody" looks to follow in the footsteps of musical hits "La La Land" and "The Greatest Showman," as a feel-good sing-along success. The movie was originally directed by Bryan Singer but he ended up being replaced by Dexter Fletcher. According to Singer, both he and Malek originally butted heads, but later said they got past their differences. Co-star Gwilym Lee also spoke out about the firing of Singer, saying his exit did not cause any uncertainty, because they knew the film was going to get completed.
CBS News reported that previous stories claimed that Singer was absent during filming.
Bryan Singer responded by saying that he returned to the US to take care of one of his parents, who had health issues. Senior media analyst for Comscore, Paul Dergarbedian, praised the film and Malek's big-screen performance. He also pointed out that moviegoers continue to flock to musically driven films, highlighting "A Star Is Born," which continues to bring in money in its fifth weekend.
"A Star Is Born" has been very successful at the box office.
'Bohemian Rhapsody' recreated iconic Live Aid
To honor the work of Queen and Freddie Mercury, the cast of "Bohemian Rhapsody" recreated the legendary Live Aid performance, and it is expected to be released to the public very soon. Malek said they did the entire Live Aid concert together.
Malek said that they had an adrenaline rush going from one song to the next. The cast was even able to gather an audience of Queen fans in order to recreate the iconic concert.
This is a major win for Fox, as the movie cost only $52 million to make. The film was produced by Graham King. The film faced off against Disney's "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms," which failed to gain much traction over the past weekend.