FILM · 2018 · USA
Bohemian Rhapsody
- Directed by
- Bryan Singer
- Runtime
- 135 min
- Studio
- 20th Century Fox, Regency Enterprises, GK Films
226 archived facts 8 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
Singer Freddie Mercury, guitarist Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bass guitarist John Deacon take the music world by storm when they form the rock 'n' roll band Queen in 1970. Hit songs become instant classics. When Mercury's increasingly wild lifestyle starts to spiral out of control, Queen soon faces its greatest challenge yet – finding a way to keep the band together amid the success and excess.
Summary: TMDB
All facts (226)
- #001
Contains a major spoiler — show
Sir Elton John and Freddie Mercury were very good friends in real life, but John admits he was furious after seeing how well Queen's Live Aid set was received by the crowd and on television. Apparently he stormed up to Mercury after the group came off and, only half-jokingly, said "You absolute bastard, you totally stole it. Nobody will be able to beat that" — which pleased Mercury no end.
- #002
Queen's set at Live Aid (1985) is regarded as one of the greatest live performances in the history of rock and roll. In a 2005 Channel Four poll of more than 60 artists, journalists and music industry executives, it was voted 'The World's Greatest Ever Live Performance'.
- #003
During Freddie Mercury's call-and-response performance with the crowd at Live Aid (around 2 o'clock), the note he held for nearly six seconds became known as "The Note Heard Round the World."
- #004
British choreographer and movement coach Polly Bennett worked meticulously with Rami Malek to perfect every nuance of Freddie Mercury's mannerisms. Every glance, every turn of the body, every swagger on stage and every microphone move had to be exactly right.
- #005
Canadian singer Marc Martel provided the vocals for Freddie in the biopic. Along with Rami Malek's voice, they used a blend of his voice and Freddie Mercury's. In an interview, Malek said his singing was seamlessly mixed with both Freddie's and Martel's vocals.
- #006
At roughly 42 minutes in, during the recording session for "Bohemian Rhapsody," John Deacon says: "I do have to say, the tape is wearing out. It can't take much more." The band did 180 vocal overdubs on the song. As a result of so many overdubs, the tape began to thin until it became transparent. In Brian May's words, "This 'legendary' story that people think we made up is true: One day we held the tape up to the light — we were wondering where the top part had gone — and we discovered an almost transparent piece of tape. All the oxide had been erased. It was time to hurriedly make a copy and get to work."
- #007
Contains a major spoiler — show
In reality, Paul Prenter was finally cast out of Freddie Mercury's circle in 1986, after it emerged that Prenter had destroyed Mercury's Stafford Terrace flat by throwing an out-of-control party there without Mercury's knowledge.
- #008
Contains a major spoiler — show
At roughly 1 hour 26 minutes, Freddie mocks the rest of the band at one point, saying that without him they would all be in ordinary jobs. He claims in particular that Brian, a former astrophysics student, would be Dr. Brian May writing an article no one would read. In reality, Brian May received his doctorate in astrophysics from Imperial College London in 2007. In the same scene, Deacy apparently tells Freddie for the first time that he studied electrical engineering. In reality, John Deacon created the Deacy Amp, which Queen used throughout its career.
- #009
Freddie Mercury's vocal range spanned up to three octaves, though it was said to extend across four. In 2016, a group of biophysicists and medical researchers concluded that his vocal cords moved faster than those of an average singer. His vibrato was measured at 7.04 Hertz, while the standard vibrato frequency is between 5.4 and 6.9 Hertz.
- #010
Contains a major spoiler — show
At roughly 1 hour 15 minutes, the film shows the making of "Another One Bites the Dust." While Deacon (Joseph Mazzello) argues with Roger (Ben Hardy) about the song, Roger mentions that it sounds too much like disco music as an excuse for why he does not want to play it. In reality, Roger Taylor did not want to play it because John Deacon had asked him to tape his drums to produce that famous "dead" sound. Taylor hated his drums being taped and sounding dead.
- #011
For the role of Freddie Mercury, Rami Malek was fitted with special prosthetic teeth to recreate Freddie's distinctive overbite. After the film wrapped, Rami kept the teeth as a memento from the shoot and eventually had them plated in gold.
- #012
Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor performed the rock arrangement in the opening of the film's 20th Century Fox fanfare.
- #013
On an episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015), Mike Myers/Christiane Amanpour (2018), Mike Myers said that during the making of Wayne's World (1992) he insisted that the song he and his friends listened to and headbanged to while driving would be "Bohemian Rhapsody." The producers thought it would not be appropriate. Myers held his ground and eventually threatened to leave the film. Myers got his way, the film became a huge hit, and the song re-entered the charts, rising to number 2 in the United States. The film is credited with introducing Queen to a new audience. Myers also said that when he was offered a role in this film, he accepted immediately without even bothering to read the script. Ironically, his character, Ray Foster, is certain that no one would want to listen to "Bohemian Rhapsody" while driving around and headbang to it.
- #014
Freddie Mercury said that Queen was a group of four solo performers collaborating on a single project.
- #015
Freddie Mercury was the godfather of Mary Austin's first son, Richard. Her second son was born shortly after Mercury's death.
- #016
Lucy Boynton said that artistic licence was used to protect Mary Austin's privacy while portraying her story in Bohemian Rhapsody, but that the producers made an effort to keep the essential nature of her relationship with Freddie Mercury intact.
- #017
Contains a major spoiler — show
The film takes its greatest departure from reality up to the 1985 Live Aid performance. There is a dramatic scene in which Freddie Mercury signs a $4 million solo deal behind the band's back and announces that he wants to take a long break from the group. The others are absolutely furious and they all go their separate ways. The truth is that everyone in the band was exhausted in 1983 after a decade on the road. They all wanted to take a bit of a break. In the film it looks as if they had not spoken to Freddie for years, but in fact they began working on The Works in late 1983 and never drifted apart.
- #018
The real reason Freddie Mercury did not have his teeth fixed was that he was afraid he would lose his four-octave voice, so he kept them despite hating his appearance.
- #019
The 1980s Pepsi logo seen throughout the Live Aid scenes is historically accurate. In 1985 Pepsi agreed to be the concert's main sponsor. They helped cover the production costs of the stage and also covered the costs of crowd control and security. Pepsi also provided facilities and refreshments for the crowd, the bands and the backstage crew. The BBC, which provided the worldwide television and radio broadcast, had a strict policy of avoiding any display of commercial sponsorship. Because of the concert's unique historical and humanitarian nature, they made the decision to tolerate product placement. Wembley Stadium was made available to Live Aid free of charge for the duration of the concert by its owners. The concert organisers and all the bands worked for free.
- #020
Rami Malek sent Queen a video of himself singing. When he finally met them, they had not watched it because it had not downloaded properly. Malek saw their first reaction to his singing firsthand.
- #021
At roughly 16 minutes, while Freddie and Mary lie together and Freddie stretches his head over to play the now-famous "Bohemian Rhapsody" piano intro for the second part of the song, Rami Malek is actually playing the correct notes in sequence — a skill that is quite difficult to do unseen, upside down and backwards.
- #022
In the 1960s Freddie Mercury earned a diploma in art and graphic design from Isleworth Polytechnic in London. Mercury personally designed the Queen logo and crest, which includes each band member's zodiac sign.
- #023
Mary Austin and Freddie Mercury were engaged at one point. They remained so close that Mercury left her most of his estate and his London mansion, Garden Lodge, in his will. His song "Love Of My Life" was dedicated to Austin.
- #024
Contains a major spoiler — show
One detail not considered for this film (because it was not really relevant) is that in 1970 Roger Taylor was asked whether he would leave Smile and join a promising group called Genesis. He turned the offer down, and Genesis hired Phil Collins as their new drummer.
- #025
Contains a major spoiler — show
(About 1 minute) Near the end of the film, watch for a very brief cameo by the real Roger Taylor and Brian May. In the original 1985 archive footage of the Live Aid concert, they can be seen sitting just behind David Bowie and Princess Diana.
- #026
The film portrays Freddie Mercury's love of cats faithfully. In his biography written by Lesley-Ann Jones, friends note that after tours he would often call home wanting to talk to the cats and made sure the television was left on with live broadcasts so the cats could watch. Delilah was reported to be his favourite cat. He wrote a song about her called "Delilah" for the album 'Innuendo'.
- #027
Contains a major spoiler — show
Although they actually play their instruments, the music heard in the film is a backing track, except for "Another One Bites the Dust", which the actors performed and collaborated on like a real band.
- #028
Although John Deacon did bring the group the now-famous "disco" bass riff for "Another One Bites the Dust" (inspired by time spent with the funk/disco group Chic), the lyrics he brought were in a very rough form at that point, not the final form depicted in the film. The final lyrics were mostly the work of Freddie Mercury, who spent a significant amount of time on the song — in Brian May's words, Freddie "hammered [at the song] until his throat bled." However, in keeping with Queen policy at the time, the sole songwriting credit went to Deacon.
- #029
Although Jim Beach gave up his successful law firm partnership to handle Queen's legal concerns permanently, he also managed Chris Rea, produced films and special TV programmes, and worked behind the scenes on stage projects including the Queen musical We Will Rock You.
- #030
Jim Hutton was an Irish hairdresser who met Freddie Mercury at a gay bar in London. At first Hutton refused to have a drink with Mercury, but when they met again a year later Hutton agreed to have a drink with the rock star.
- #031
As shown in the film, Freddie Mercury really did have an upright piano at the foot of his bed in the group's early days. He often woke up with a melody in his head, wrote it down immediately, and then began working on it to turn it into a song he could play for the other band members. Freddie was famous for being able to compose songs even in the most unusual circumstances. According to one story, while sitting in the bath listening to a dripping tap, it inspired him to write 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' while still in the bathroom, and it became a big hit for the group.
- #032
Freddie Mercury recorded his solo album 'Mr. Bad Guy' at Musicland Studios in Munich over a two-year period. Although not shown in the film, he took breaks during the production of the solo album to fulfil Queen's existing recording commitments.
- #033
Contains a major spoiler — show
The Live Aid concert, which also featured Queen, was organised by original Band Aid organiser Bob Geldof. The film gives the impression that Queen were left off the bill because Freddie Mercury did not respond to Geldof's early invitations and the group was only added at the eleventh hour after a hasty reconciliation. In reality, Geldof and Queen had disagreed over the group's decision to perform in Argentina and South Africa, which the music world generally boycotted at the time due to political investigations and the apartheid regime respectively. They were extremely angry when Geldof famously announced on television news in early 1985 that Queen were among the groups that had agreed to play there (which also secured the participation of many big names), because he had neither contacted them nor had they heard about it for the first time, and they also had to go on tour. Although they felt emotionally blackmailed, they did not want to publicly scold Geldof or withdraw from the concert, so they had to reschedule their plans for that month. Queen rehearsed their set for weeks in a local university gymnasium. Queen delivered probably the most memorable performance of the entire concert; Freddie whipped up the audience with his legendary showmanship, and the group stayed on stage for more than 20 minutes even though only 15 minutes had been allotted.
- #034
Contains a major spoiler — show
(About 1 hour 35 minutes) The TV interview Paul (Allen Leech) gives after Freddie Mercury cuts him out of his life is entirely fictional, but Paul Prenter did give a series of interviews to the tabloid The Sun in which he revealed many of Freddie's closely guarded secrets.
- #035
Contains a major spoiler — show
During the long shots of the stage in the Live Aid performance, the video screens hanging at the sides of the stage show clips from the real 1985 performance to match the film's performance.
- #036
Contains a major spoiler — show
A fact not mentioned in the film but still an important part of Queen's history is that Freddie Mercury and David Bowie had known each other since 1968 or '69. Mercury was of course a student at Ealing Art College from the mid-to-late 1960s, and Bowie was a struggling musician. Mercury had played a few university concerts as an amateur musician and worked in the same circle at roughly the same time as Bowie, so they knew each other (Bowie actually gave a concert at Ealing Art College in 1968). Freddie and drummer Roger Taylor also ran a second-hand clothes stall in Kensington market at the time, so Bowie would occasionally visit and they would help him if he wanted something specific. Bowie's career began two or three years before Queen's, but in the summer of 1981, both Queen and Bowie ran into each other in the cafeteria of an EMI recording studio in Germany while working on separate projects and began talking. Both the group and Bowie thought it would be fun to collaborate on a song and immediately wrote 'Under Pressure' during a half-hour tea break. Bowie then went into the studio with Freddie, quickly recorded his lines in a few takes, and then returned to his own studio while the Queen members finished preparing the rest of the song's instrumental parts. The song was released as a single in the autumn of the same year and rose to number 1 in many countries. The song appears briefly in the film, in keeping with Freddie's time in Germany. Many Queen and Bowie fans believe this was Bowie's way of thanking the group for helping him during the difficult early days of his career.
- #037
John Deacon retired from the group in 1997 and had almost no creative involvement in this film other than allowing his self-penned songs to be included in the soundtrack. The remaining two members, Brian May and Roger Taylor, are the two original band members still active in Queen projects, while Deacon (who was the group's youngest member) lives a quiet life in a London suburb with his wife of about 44 years, Veronica, and their adult children.
- #038
Contains a major spoiler — show
(About 1 hour 35 minutes) The real-life Paul Prenter was paid £32,000 by The Sun newspaper in 1986 for a kiss-and-tell story. The story ran for several days and included headlines such as "All the Queen's Men." After selling the story, he actually called Freddie Mercury and claimed the press was following him, but Freddie refused to speak to him. Prenter died of AIDS three months before Freddie and is called "Judas" by some Queen fans for his actions.
- #039
By the time of Live Aid in July 1985, Queen's success in the US had been declining for several years, but they remained popular in their home country the United Kingdom, Western Europe and Australia. The group had been criticised for the Queen: I Want to Break Free (1984) video, which many conservative broadcast networks in the United States, including MTV, which refused to show it, found offensive. The song later reached only number 45 on the US charts. In contrast, it reached the top 10 in most European countries and number three in the United Kingdom, where the BBC played the video on its flagship Top of the Pops (1964) TV series. This, along with Freddie Mercury's increasingly flamboyant performances, damaged their US image. Although celebrated as one of the greatest live performances ever, Queen's participation in Live Aid did not help revive their US success, where their next album 'A Kind of Magic' rose only to number 46 and failed to enter the Top 40. In 1992, Queen experienced a revival in the US after 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was used in Wayne's World (1992), and although Freddie Mercury had passed away by then, the song became a hit again.
- #040
For this role, Rami Malek's movement coach had him study Liza Minnelli in Cabaret (1972) as well as performances by Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie and Aretha Franklin. These were reportedly the main inspirations for Freddie Mercury's performance style.
- #041
(At about 1 hour 45 minutes) Freddie Mercury's speech about not wanting pity is based on real events. In reality, a few years after Live Aid, the band sat together chatting casually about everyday things. Freddie Mercury jokingly said "You guys think you have problems" and pulled up his trouser leg to show them the scar on his lower leg. He then told the group (as depicted in the film) about his illness, how firmly he refused to be pitied, and that he wanted to spend the rest of his time making music. He also asked them to keep it a secret, and although many people suspected it in his final year because of his extreme weight loss, he did not disclose it publicly until the day before his death.
- #042
Sacha Baron Cohen was the first choice to play Freddie Mercury, with Stephen Frears set to direct. Frears left the project over creative differences with Brian May and Roger Taylor, who control the band's music and film rights. The deal with Baron Cohen fell apart after May objected to the project being a biography of Mercury alone rather than of the rest of Queen. May felt the focus should be on the other members and on the aftermath of Mercury's death. They disliked the original draft by writers Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson. Baron Cohen saw it as a historically accurate, ugly portrayal that did not shy away from Mercury's hard edges, including his well-documented gay encounters and casual sexual relationships. May thought Baron Cohen was too much of a comedy actor to play Mercury well.
- #043
Initially, Live Aid was not an appealing enough proposition for Freddie Mercury and Queen. According to biographer Lesley-Ann Jones, Mercury held a grudge over not being invited to collaborate on Bob Geldof's 1984 charity single 'Do They Know It's Christmas', so he needed extra motivation to take part in Geldof's next venture. Geldof preferred to call Jim Beach and reportedly said, "Look, what's up with the old queen? It's the perfect stage for him. It's the entire world."
- #044
According to the actor himself, Steven Spielberg apparently did not recognize Jurassic Park (1993) star Joseph Mazzello in the role of Queen bassist John Deacon. In a comment on IGN, Mazzello mentioned that Spielberg is one of the people he has stayed in regular contact with since the early days of his acting career. "Steven is probably the person I've stayed most in touch with. This past year we were sending each other a bunch of letters. Literally still handwritten letters, which is great. We just talk about everything: our careers and [how] he saw [Bohemian Rhapsody], and apparently he didn't recognize me because I was wearing a wig and had an English accent. He leaned over to his guest and said, 'Who is that? Who is that actor?'".
- #045
(At about 52 minutes) The Rock festival in Rio took place in January 1985, not in the mid-70s as the film suggests. Queen performed two nights at the Rock in Rio festival, with more than 250,000 spectators attending each night. On the first night (11 January), Brazilian artists as well as Whitesnake and Iron Maiden took the stage before Queen. On the second night (18 January), The Go-Go's and The B-52's were the international acts ahead of Queen. The astonishing crowd singing along with Freddie Mercury on "Love of My Life" is real. It can be found online.
- #046
The guitar used in the film is a faithful depiction of the real "Red Special," which Brian May built with his father in the early 1960s. The film also depicts Vox amplifiers being used heavily by May, accurately showing what he used during those years.
- #047
No member of Queen ever definitively explained the meaning behind the lyrics of the song Bohemian Rhapsody.
- #048
During filming at the famous Rockfield Farm Studios in Wales, where Queen recorded the 1975 album "A Night at the Opera," which includes "Bohemian Rhapsody," Ben Hardy had the privilege of playing the original tom-tom drums Roger Taylor used on the actual album recording. According to Ben, this was one of the highlights of his experience on the shoot.
- #049
Contains a major spoiler — show
At around the 1 hour 1 minute mark, Brian says at one point in the film that he will never cut his hair. As of October 2025, Brian May (78 years old) still has his characteristic long curls, although they are now completely grey.
- #050
Contains a major spoiler — show
At around the 7 minute mark, the first interaction between Freddie (Rami Malek) and Mary (Lucy Boynton) in the film comes when Freddie calls the Smile members after a show and compliments Mary's jacket. In reality, Brian May had met Mary Austin, and Freddie Mercury had seen her while she was working at Biba. Brian and Mary had gone on a few dates but it was going nowhere, so Freddie expressed to Brian that he was interested in her. Brian introduced the two, and Freddie asked her out on his 24th birthday. She said no, but Freddie persisted and they went on their first date the next day. In the film, when Freddie proposes to Mary, both are naked and covered by sheets, strongly implying they have just had sex. In reality it was Christmas, and Freddie gave her a large box containing a smaller box, which contained an even smaller box, and so on until she found the ring. Although in the film they eventually separate and lose touch for a while before reconciling as friends, in reality Mary always remained part of Freddie's life, as she hired him as the band's company secretary in the music and publishing business. She also cared for him during his final illness.
- #051
Most of the clothes worn by Gwilym Lee (Brian May) and Ben Hardy (Roger Taylor) are the actual garments worn by the respective musicians at key moments in the film, including the Live Aid concert. Both Brian May and Roger Taylor were happy to grant access to their extensive wardrobes to save the cost of recreating specific wardrobe items.
- #052
A nearly unrecognizable Mike Myers arrived on the film set as the character Ray Foster and kept his accent even when the cameras were not rolling.
- #053
Queen bassist John Deacon retired from music in 1997. After Freddie Mercury's death he performed live only three times and helped complete "Made in Heaven" (the last full album of new material featuring Mercury). His final musical contribution was playing bass on Brian May's "No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)" on the "Queen Rocks" compilation. Nevertheless, since the early days (after several unscrupulous managers took advantage of the band's trust), Deacon has kept a close eye on the group's finances and still takes an interest in the matter. In Brian May's words, "But he still keeps an eye on the financial matters. John Deacon is still John Deacon. We don't undertake anything financial without talking to him."
- #054
The film never mentions that Roger Taylor and Freddie Mercury shared a flat in 1969 and sold clothes at a market stall in Kensington, before Freddie Mercury joined Smile, where Taylor was the drummer, in 1970.
- #055
Joseph Mazzello learned to play the bass guitar from scratch for his role in Bohemian Rhapsody. He and his fellow actors Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee and Ben Hardy had only six weeks to prepare to play Queen's entire 21-minute Live Aid set from start to finish at the beginning of principal photography.
- #056
The large black-and-white portrait seen at Mercury's mansion at the beginning and in the middle of the film is of Marlene Dietrich in Shanghai Express (1932). In the portrait, Dietrich looks toward the light with her arms crossed and her fingers open. This portrait was the inspiration behind the album cover of "Queen II" and the four-faced photograph featured in the band's Queen: Bohemian Rhapsody (1975) music video. Queen photographer Mick Rock showed Dietrich's portrait to Freddie Mercury, and Mercury loved it.
- #057
Throughout the shoot, Joseph Mazzello had his own hair permed as well as using five different wigs, an experience he did not expect to be so 'permanent'.
- #058
Rami Malek wears a wig in every scene of Bohemian Rhapsody.
- #059
Freddie Mercury was fascinated by Jimi Hendrix's musicianship and style. After Hendrix performed 'Hey Joe' on the BBC in 1966, Freddie began following the artist and within a few months had attended at least 14 Hendrix shows in the United Kingdom.
- #060
Brian May said of the band's first album: "There was a youthfulness and freshness on that album that can never be regained, because you're only young once… It had many rough edges, many bad performances, a lot of bad production, but obviously we didn't have the time to spend on it like we did later. But I would never think of going back and redoing it."
- #061
A recurring joke in the film involves the song "I'm In Love With My Car." The film actually downplays the friction the song caused within Queen. Brian May and John Deacon thought the song was below average, but its writer Roger Taylor insisted it be included on the album. Taylor later went further and locked himself in a cupboard until the group agreed to use the song as the B-side of the "Bohemian Rhapsody" single — which later worsened the internal quarrel, since "Bohemian Rhapsody" became a huge hit and the B-side generated a large royalty income for Taylor.
- #062
According to 'Freddie Mercury: A Life, In His Own Words', compiled and edited by Greg Brooks and Simon Lipton (2011), Freddie Mercury said: "Also, I have dreams of one day having a film made of my life story, in which I'll play a major part. I may not be able to play myself in the lead role. Darlings, the things I've done in my life… it'll be totally X-rated, I tell you!" Bohemian Rhapsody was rated PG-13 by the MPAA and 12 by the BBFC.
- #063
The audience of roughly 72,000 at Wembley was created using state-of-the-art digital techniques that allowed the VFX team to do mass duplication on a large scale and at a high level of detail, so that repetition among audience members is almost imperceptible and the crowd can be seen moving and applauding differently for each Queen song.
- #064
Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy and Joseph Mazzello grew close during rehearsals; the bond between them only deepened during production. "There are always films where the actors talk about how tight the actors and the crew were, but this was special," reflects Malek. "You felt it every day. We all talk every day, and we finished this film almost a year ago. There isn't a day that goes by that we don't communicate with each other." Adds Lee, "Remember, half the band lives in the UK, half lives in America… Since we wrapped at the end of January, we haven't gone more than a few weeks without seeing each other. It's sickening; we can't be apart."
- #065
Rami Malek had joked that he wore only a single costume as Elliot Alderson in Mr. Robot (2015), but for Bohemian Rhapsody there were countless wardrobe changes and costume options. He has roughly 70 to 75 different costumes in the film, depending on whether you count accessories, in the theatrical and DVD cuts.
- #066
At around the 9 minute mark, when Freddie shows off his singing ability to Brian May and Roger Taylor (and they mock his overbite), Freddie says the overbite allows him to reach more octaves. In reality Freddie Mercury was not fully aware of this, because he hated the shape of his teeth; he had learned of the advantages by the time they wrote and recorded "A Night At The Opera." He also learned that the overbite gave him the ability to sing more easily with vibrato because he used falsetto.
- #067
At around 1 hour 20 minutes in, Joseph Mazzello claims he improvised the line "I had a cold last week, if anyone cares."
- #068
Gwilym Lee's portrayal of Brian May was so accurate that when May's children saw the film's trailer, they had to be told that the man on screen was an actor, not their father.
- #069
(Around 44 minutes) When Ray Foster (Mike Myers) refuses to release "Bohemian Rhapsody" as a single, his reasons are that the song is too long at over six minutes and that no radio station will play a song longer than three minutes. Jim Beach (Tom Hollander) points out that Ray produced Pink Floyd's album "The Dark Side of the Moon." The joke is that eight of the nine songs on "The Dark Side of the Moon" run longer than three minutes, and the song released as a single, "Money," was over six minutes long.
- #070
Freddie wears a silver necklace throughout the film, and it also appears around Jim Hutton's neck at Live Aid.
- #071
Contains a major spoiler — show
(Around the 47th minute) The radio DJ who plays Bohemian Rhapsody "for the first time ever" on his radio show is Kenny Everett (played in the film by Dickie Beau). Reportedly, when he played the song without the radio station's permission, he believed it would instantly be a huge hit and began to promote it constantly and put it into heavy rotation on his show, thus playing a significant role in popularizing a song that was not considered radio-friendly at the time. One of Freddie Mercury's closest friends, Everett would spend time enjoying London's nightlife with him throughout the 1970s and sharing drugs with him. By 1985 they had disagreements due to the issue of sharing drugs and other personal problems, but they reconciled in 1989 when their health began to deteriorate due to AIDS (Everett tested HIV positive in 1987). Everett died in 1995 from complications related to AIDS.
- #072
Contains a major spoiler — show
(Around 1 hour 20 minutes) During the Hot Space press conference, Freddie is reported to have said: "I'm just a musical prostitute." This quote is a reference to an interview conducted with Rudi Dolezal in Munich in 1984 to promote "The Works" album. You can find the full, uncut interview on Queen's official YouTube channel by searching for "A Musical Prostitute." This interview stands out as the most popular Freddie Mercury interview of all time.
- #073
Roger Taylor was actually the first member of Queen to embark on a solo career. He released a solo single in 1977, and in 1980, while Queen was producing their eighth studio album 'The Game,' he also began working on a solo album.
- #074
The band Smile, seen at the beginning of the film, takes its name from Roger Taylor's dentistry studies.
- #075
The character Ray Foster never actually existed; he is a composite of several people and a bit of dramatic license. His name is based on Ray Featherstone, who generally supported Queen while expressing doubts about the length of "Bohemian Rhapsody."
- #076
The film does not show the other musical acts that took part in Live Aid, but Queen took the stage near the end of the concert, immediately after Dire Straits, and was followed by other famous artists who performed after the sun had set over the stadium: David Bowie, The Who, Sir Elton John, Wham! and Sir Paul McCartney.
- #077
Queen's Live Aid setlist: "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Radio Ga Ga," Freddie Mercury's call and response with the audience (commonly known as "Ay-Oh"), "Hammer To Fall," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" (with an ending similar to that of "You're My Best Friend"), "We Will Rock You" (not seen in the film and available only as a Blu-Ray extra), "We Are The Champions." Later in the evening, Freddie and Brian May would return to the stage to perform "Is This The World We Created."
- #078
(Around the 11th minute) The navy shirt with gold embroidery that Freddie wears at his first appearance with Smile is the same shirt his mother Jer wore earlier in the family dinner scene. Apparently Freddie borrowed it from her for his first performance with the band.
- #079
The Bulsara family emigrated to England to escape the Zanzibar Revolution when Freddie Mercury was 17 years old.
- #080
Rami Malek reportedly did 50 hours of costume fittings with designer Julian Day, covering everything from 4-inch platform shoes to tight satin trousers and full Lycra outfits.
- #081
Bassist John Deacon joined Brian May and Roger Taylor's band after three other bassists had come and gone. He was the fourth and final bassist, completing Smile's transition into the iconic band Queen.
- #082
Most sources state that Freddie Mercury first learned he was HIV positive in 1987, while journalist and longtime friend David Wigg, who had known him for 16 years, wrote in a 2011 Daily Mail article that Freddie knew of the diagnosis seven years before his death and that 1984 was the year he received the bad news.
- #083
(Around the 47th minute) The scene in which Freddie throws a brick through the window of Ray Foster's office is fictional, but it has some basis in reality. In the documentary Queen: Days of Our Lives (2011), Queen's former manager John Reid tells the story of Freddie Mercury throwing a brick through a window after Reid left him in the middle of a meal at a restaurant.
- #084
Prosthetic makeup artist Mark Coulier, known for his work on the Harry Potter series, The Iron Lady (2011) and Suspiria (2018), collaborated with Jan Sewell on Rami Malek's makeup design. His team made a plaster cast of Malek's face in order to create small facial prosthetics (including one for Malek's nose) to help Jan Sewell bring out Freddie Mercury's appearance.
- #085
Queen is known as one of the most eclectic bands in history, releasing albums that showcased progressive rock, heavy metal, rousing arena anthems, romantic ballads, hard rock, trad jazz, funk, glam, opera, pop-rock and everything in between.
- #086
Although he is often described as Queen's manager, Jim "Miami" Beach technically never managed the band. Instead, he handled all of Queen's contracts and legal affairs and oversaw the band's companies, assets and side projects.
- #087
Contains a major spoiler — show
There is some debate over how accurate the characterization of Paul Prenter is in relation to the real person. The film demonizes him as a freeloader who controlled Freddie Mercury's life and career, facilitated a rift in the band and ultimately encouraged Mercury's descent into a corrupt lifestyle that led to him contracting AIDS, but there are some historical inaccuracies regarding him in the film (he was not fired by Mercury until after the Live Aid concert, and he did not withhold information about Live Aid from him). What is true is that Roger Taylor in particular had a great antipathy toward Prenter and spoke about it very loudly, and as a result there were several physical (possibly violent) confrontations with Prenter during his time in the role. Since Taylor and Brian May were key players in the making of this film and Prenter died of AIDS in 1991 (meaning he cannot defend himself), one can only speculate as to whether he was truly the scheming manipulator the film suggests, or whether Taylor and May's perception of him seeped into the script. However, many others connected to the band have also shared over the years their view that Prenter was a self-serving parasite, especially after he gave an interview to The Sun in which he said Mercury was gay and revealed his relationship with Jim Hutton (Aaron McCusker).
- #088
Contains a major spoiler — show
In the film, the band were in no state to talk when they received the offer to play Live Aid in 1985, and they had not performed a concert in years. It makes no mention that they had released The Works in early 1984 and then toured the entire world. The final show of that tour was only eight weeks before Live Aid. By the time of the broadcast they were extremely well rehearsed, but the film shows them needing to reconcile with each other and return to playing form.
- #089
When Bob Geldof visited the set of the Live Aid stage, he was stunned by its resemblance to the historic Live Aid concert he had spearheaded decades earlier.
- #090
Canadian recording artist and singer Marc Martel, who closely resembles Freddie Mercury, contributed to the film's vocal recordings. In addition to fronting a Queen tribute band (Ultimate Queen Celebration), he also released a highly praised cover of the Queen/David Bowie duet "Under Pressure," in which indie rock artist Kevin Max sang Bowie's part.
- #091
Freddie Mercury bought the Garden Lodge mansion in 1980. It had previously belonged to one of the Hoare banking family members, so Mercury sometimes referred to his home as "The Hoare House."
- #092
The film does not mention the dispute Queen had with their original manager Norman Sheffield during their early days at Trident Studios, before they signed with EMI. The band had signed a contract with Sheffield that effectively paid them a poverty wage. They were allowed to use the studio's state-of-the-art recording equipment in its 'downtime' (that is, in the early hours of the morning) and cut their first two albums that way, but they found they could not survive on the fees paid. This led to a major argument when Sheffield refused to compromise or give them a raise. However, when Jim Beach offered to take over management, an effective deal was reached by buying out their connection to Sheffield and ending their relationship with Trident (which had produced the first albums and released them through EMI under a licensing agreement). Yet years later the band were still angry at Sheffield and wrote the song 'Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to…)' on the album 'A Night At The Opera,' a thinly veiled character assassination that described the band's hostility toward him. Sheffield later tried to sue the band for insulting his character (even though he is not named in the song), and although the band settled with him out of court, he inadvertently embroiled himself in the matter because the legal papers he submitted became public knowledge, so Queen fans who had wondered who the song was about now had the mystery solved.
- #093
The Live Aid (1985) concert stage is the largest set director Bryan Singer had ever built for one of his films. It is a 100% replica of the original, down to the Pepsi plastic cups on the piano.
- #094
According to Brian May, Queen rehearsed tirelessly for the Live Aid set. At that point in the band's career, extensive rehearsals were not common.
- #095
According to the BBC, the film's production was difficult. The film's producers and its star Rami Malek had grown tired of director Bryan Singer's erratic behavior, including his routinely arriving late to set or disappearing entirely. In 2017, after the Thanksgiving holiday, Singer was absent from filming for three days, at which point cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel had to step in and direct in Singer's absence. Reports claimed Singer had left due to a family matter. A few days after this news, 20th Century Fox fired Singer from the film for his unstable behavior on and off set and his conflicts with the production crew. The next day things would get much worse for Singer when 20th Century Fox terminated its Bad Hat Harry production deal with the studio. Fox began searching for a new director to finish the production, with two weeks of shooting left, all of post-production and potential reshoots. New director Dexter Fletcher started on the production after New Year 2017. In the end Singer still received the directing credit, but the studio took away his executive producer credit.
- #096
Contains a major spoiler — show
Freddie Mercury allegedly had not learned he was HIV positive before Live Aid. In the film, during the Live Aid rehearsals, Freddie reveals to the band that he is HIV positive but wants to keep the news completely secret and focus all his attention on the music. Exactly when Mercury learned he had contracted the virus is still disputed, but it is generally accepted to have been between 1986 and 1987. The band almost certainly did not know this while rehearsing for Live Aid in 1985.
- #097
When Rami Malek was approached about playing Freddie Mercury, he had only a superficial knowledge of Queen. To become Mercury, Malek had to undergo very intensive sessions with a movement coach, as well as learn to speak with prosthetic teeth.
- #098
"A Kind of Magic" was the album featuring and inspired by songs from the cult classic fantasy film Highlander (1986), recorded after Queen's Live Aid performance. The album includes the song "Who Wants to Live Forever," which also appears in Highlander. As a result, some of the late Michael Kamen's orchestral music from the cult classic film features prominently here, incorporated by Queen into the song.
- #099
Contains a major spoiler — show
Contrary to what the film implies, Queen never finished their US tour because Brian May became very ill (he contracted hepatitis), so they returned to England and he was hospitalized. While May was in the hospital, the group recorded "Sheer Heart Attack," and after Brian laid down the guitar parts they released their first single, "Killer Queen."
- #100
When Rami Malek first met Queen at Abbey Road Studios, he was running late. He was hurrying up the stairs and came across a signed picture of Queen along the way. It felt as if Freddie Mercury's face were looking at him and telling him, "Don't do this." Ultimately, Malek said, "It really felt inspiring."
- #101
Contains a major spoiler — show
The film states that Freddie Mercury would record two solo albums back to back, but only the making of the first, "Mr. Bad Guy," is shown. His second solo album, recorded after the events of the film, was Barcelona, an opera album made in collaboration with opera singer Montserrat Caballé. Caballé died on 6 October 2018, just a few weeks before the film's release.
- #102
Queen named two albums after Marx Brothers films: 1975's groundbreaking A Night at the Opera (1935) and its 1976 follow-up A Day at the Races (1937). During their Los Angeles tour in March 1977, the members of Queen were invited to Groucho Marx's house for tea; he was the second and last surviving Marx brother and was 86 at the time. The group gave him a gold record and, at his request, performed the '39 a cappella version from A Night at the Opera.
- #103
Freddie Mercury's surname comes from a line in the song "My Fairy King": "Mother Mercury, look what they've done to me." The song appears on Queen's first album and is in fact dedicated to Freddie's mother, Jer Bulsara.
- #104
With his Oscar win, Rami Malek became the first actor of Arab and Egyptian origin (male or female) to win an Oscar in an acting category and to be nominated for and win Best Actor.
- #105
(At about 2 hours 10 minutes) During the "Don't Stop Me Now" music video played over the end credits, the real Freddie Mercury is wearing a T-shirt from the famous gay nightclub Minehawk in New York City.
- #106
Contains a major spoiler — show
(At about 27 minutes) When the group sets out on their first American tour, the film cuts to an overhead shot of the band's tour bus, and another bus is briefly visible in front of Queen's. The first bus was carrying the British rock group Mott the Hoople. Queen were in fact the support act on Mott's first North American tour.
- #107
(At about 45 minutes) When Ray Foster (Mike Myers) hesitates about releasing "Bohemian Rhapsody" as a single, he says: "What about 'I'm in Love with My Car'? I love it! It's the kind of song teenagers can crank up the volume in their car and bang their heads to... Bohemian Rhapsody will never be that song." This is an ironic nod to the iconic scene in the famous Wayne's World (1992), in which Myers and Dana Carvey headbang to "Bohemian Rhapsody" in a car.
- #108
The film's recreation of Queen's landmark 1985 Live Aid concert was shot on the first day of production on a replica of the London Wembley Stadium stage at Bovingdon Airfield in Hemel Hempstead. The original Wembley twin towers were demolished in 2003 when the site was redeveloped.
- #109
(At about 23 minutes) As Queen are about to perform on Top of the Pops, they state that they do not agree to lip-syncing instead of singing their songs. When Top of the Pops (1964) began in 1964, the show's producers decided that artists would lip-sync rather than sing their songs. The British Broadcasting Corporation stated this openly when promoting the show. The reason for the producers' decision was that, since the show promoted records, they considered lip-syncing more ethical and honest than the artists singing, and therefore viewers and listeners had the right to know exactly how the records sounded.
- #110
On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015), Rami Malek named "Lily of the Valley" and "Somebody to Love" as Queen songs.
- #111
Although Roger Taylor has won worldwide acclaim as a drummer, he played the ukulele as a child and had graduated to the guitar in his youth before moving on to drumming. He later played guitar in the side project The Cross from 1987 to 1993.
- #112
The film received mixed reviews; its direction, screenplay and historical inaccuracies were criticized, but Rami Malek's performance as Freddie Mercury was generally met with unanimous praise.
- #113
(At about 12 minutes) In his first performance as part of Smile, Freddie Mercury has trouble removing the microphone from the mic stand, so he takes part of the stand with him. Singing with part of the mic stand attached to the microphone would become one of his trademarks.
- #114
John Reid is portrayed as a character in both Bohemian Rhapsody and Sir Elton John's 2019 biopic Rocketman (2019). He is played by Aidan Gillen in Bohemian Rhapsody and by Richard Madden in Rocketman; both actors are known for their roles in the series Game of Thrones (2011). Rocketman was directed by Dexter Fletcher, who stepped in to finish the directing work on Bohemian Rhapsody after Bryan Singer's departure.
- #115
Freddie Mercury's parents, Bomi and Jer, came from Mumbai and had moved to Tanzania when Freddie was born.
- #116
Meneka Das, who plays Freddie Mercury's mother in the film, is in fact only seven years older than Rami Malek.
- #117
John Reid was only 26 years old when he began managing Queen, but Aidan Gillen, the actor who portrayed him, was actually 49 during filming.
- #118
"Bohemian" is defined as "a socially unconventional person, especially one who is involved in the arts." It was originally the Latin name for the Czech people, but it acquired its modern meaning in 19th-century Paris. "Rhapsody" is a musical term referring to a piece made up of several distinct sections that differ greatly in style, mood and tempo, yet can also signal an outburst of emotion.
- #119
(At around 27 minutes) The interior of the bus shown at the start of "Fat Bottomed Girls" depicts Freddie and Brian sitting at a Scrabble board. Queen in fact played a great deal of Scrabble while on the road. Roger Taylor said that he and Freddie Mercury were genuinely good at it, while John Deacon and Brian May played less or would drop out of intense games. Brian once played "lacquers" using a Q on a triple score and the word on a triple word, scoring 168 points in the game by using all seven of his letters.
- #120
Among the songs Roger Taylor wrote for Queen are 'Radio Ga Ga', 'These Are the Days of Our Lives', 'A Kind of Magic' and 'I'm In Love With My Car'.
- #121
The first scene the actors shot was their appearance on stage at Live Aid. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was filmed on the first day, "Radio Gaga" the next, and so on, until a complete pass was finally captured. The actors rehearsed every small movement for five weeks and said they believed the production company wanted to know in advance how they could complete this iconic scene. Producer Graham King, however, said the reason they filmed it first was the weather. The film was shot in late October and early November, and because London's weather can be unpredictable, he did not want the exterior to be too cold or wet.
- #122
(At around 1 hour) The party scene at Freddie's mansion is a composite of anecdotes from the many intimate and lavish birthday parties Freddie Mercury hosted over the years, including the "black and white drag ball" held for his 39th birthday, which was attended by 300 revellers who had flown to Munich for the occasion.
- #123
To celebrate the film's release, Rami Malek appeared on the cover of the launch issue of "GQ" Middle East, the magazine of his ancestral home, Egypt.
- #124
Contains a major spoiler — show
Although the film does not address it, Queen's famous promotional video for Bohemian Rhapsody (1975) was made because the band did not want to go on the BBC show Top of the Pops (1964) to promote the single with a live performance. The actual video was shot on a Saturday on 1-inch videotape by a professional film crew hired from Thames Television's The Benny Hill Show (1969). The entire shoot surprisingly took less than half a day, and the finished videotape was delivered to the band the next day. A copy was then made and taken to the BBC for review so that it could be included in Thursday's broadcast.
- #125
Contains a major spoiler — show
At an earlier point, Sir Elton John pressed Freddie Mercury to tell him what kind of preparations the band had made before their Live Aid performance. Freddie told the highly competitive Elton that they had done a few rehearsals but were "just going to wing it on the day." In reality the band had spent a solid week rehearsing in a university gym in Middlesex the week before the concert, because they wanted to make their timing flawless given the limited stage time allotted to them. When Elton saw their performance he realised he had been deceived and was quite annoyed, though in later years he saw the funny side and admitted he should have known better, since he knew Freddie had a mischievous sense of humour.
- #126
(At around 3 minutes) In the film's opening moments, as Freddie Mercury climbs the stairs to take the stage, members of U2 can be seen coming off it. They are easily recognisable by Bono's mid-80s mullet.
- #127
Contains a major spoiler — show
One point not shown in Freddie Mercury's music career is that before Smile, Freddie had two bands that helped him build his confidence around being a rock band frontman: the first was Ibex, which later changed its name to Wreckage, and the last was Sour Milk Sea. Immediately after Sour Milk Sea broke up, Freddie was more confident in his voice, his appearance and his stage persona. His first two bands were friendly with Smile, and therefore with Brian May and Roger Taylor.
- #128
(At around 1 hour 22 minutes) The film briefly touches on the video for the 1984 hit single 'I Want To Break Free', which caused great controversy in the US and was banned by many television broadcasters. The track was from the band's 11th studio album 'The Works' and was a major hit across much of Europe and the rest of the world. The video is an affectionate, witty and somewhat camp parody of the long-running British soap Coronation Street (1960), with the band members dressed in exaggerated versions of the show's female characters. While most residents of the UK and the Commonwealth recognised the reference, many conservative American channels either missed the joke or worried that US viewers would be offended, and refused to show it. As a result, the song was never a major hit in the US.
- #129
Contains a major spoiler — show
(At around 42 minutes) All four members of Queen are depicted singing in the film, for example while recording the vocals for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. In real life bassist John Deacon (portrayed in the film by Joseph Mazzello) did not sing on any of Queen's studio albums. The producers probably decided that having all four members sing would create a nicer image. This mirrors Queen's real-life music videos: in Bohemian Rhapsody (1975) and others, Deacon also appears to sing. Deacon did, however, sing backing and harmony vocals during live performances, which is accurately reflected throughout the film.
- #130
Brian May does not use a plectrum (commonly known as a guitar pick) when playing guitar; instead he prefers to use a sixpence (pre-decimal, i.e. the 1971 coin).
- #131
(At around 23 minutes) The film gives the impression that Queen were unhappy about having to mime to their songs on the BBC TV series Top of the Pops (1964), which they probably first appeared on in February 1974 promoting "Seven Seas of Rhye". While this is true, the band did later appear on the show in person to promote their singles with a mimed performance. This was usually done when EMI released a single but there was no accompanying promotional video, or at least none available at the time of broadcast. They did this for the last time in 1982 with the minor hit "Las palabras de amor", and their appearance, recorded after the audience had left, became the official Queen video for that song. Note: as was standard BBC policy in the 1970s, some of these programmes were wiped and the expensive videotape reused to record other programmes, so not all of these earlier performances survive.
- #132
(At around 1 hour 40 minutes) While Jim Beach is talking with Queen about Live Aid, he mentions the names of artists on the bill: Sir Paul McCartney, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Phil Collins, REO Speedwagon, etc. He mentions Led Zeppelin and Phil Collins together because Collins was drumming for Led Zeppelin that day, since drummer John Bonham had died in 1980, which led to Led Zeppelin's break-up that year.
- #133
Rami Malek and Joseph Mazzello had known each other for more than 10 years and were good friends before making the film.
- #134
Contains a major spoiler — show
(At around 1 hour 45 minutes) The scene in which Freddie tells the other members of Queen that he is HIV positive just before Live Aid is 100% fiction. It is also unclear when Freddie Mercury first learned he had contracted the virus. Reports range from Freddie finding out in 1987 to learning it much earlier, after seeking medical help in Germany. The time it took for his illness to develop fully into AIDS and end his life is therefore uncertain. The film ends with the public being unaware of his condition, since Freddie did not announce his illness until 23 November 1991, the day before he died, which is accurate.
- #135
The film depicts Freddie hiding away alone in Munich while working on his first solo album Mr. Bad Guy. In reality Freddie Mercury and Queen recorded several albums there between 1979 (The Game) and 1986 (A Kind of Magic).
- #136
Rami Malek and Lucy Boynton became an item during the filming of this movie.
- #137
As filming was nearing completion, director Bryan Singer was fired over creative differences and unexplained absences, and Dexter Fletcher was brought in to replace him. Fletcher directed 16 days of shooting and oversaw post-production, but the Directors Guild of America (DGA) felt that the sole directing credit belonged to Singer. That did not stop the studio from putting Singer's name forward for the Best Director award, though the well-documented problems during production most likely prevented him from being nominated in that category.
- #138
Although it is not mentioned in the film, around 1982-3 Freddie Mercury and singer Michael Jackson collaborated for several weeks on a handful of songs intended for a future Jackson album. None of the songs were released during Jackson's lifetime; after a major falling-out, only demo recordings were ever made. Mercury left the project after finding Jackson's behavior too eccentric for his taste, and Jackson disapproved of Mercury's smoking, drinking, swearing and occasional drug use. One of the songs, "State of Shock", was later re-recorded with new vocals by Mick Jagger and became a worldwide hit single for The Jackson 5 in 1984.
- #139
(At about 1 hour 40 minutes) The film shows Mercury's bandmates making a request before Live Aid in order to forgive him: all songs, all royalties, would be transferred to "Queen" to be shared equally. This eventually happened, but only some time later: "The Miracle" (1989) was the first Queen album credited that way. By then Freddie Mercury had been diagnosed with AIDS, and the band knew he was dying.
- #140
Makeup and hair designer Jan Sewell said that transforming Rami Malek into Freddie Mercury was about evoking Mercury's essence rather than turning Malek into a complete copy of Freddie Mercury.
- #141
Given that Live Aid's purpose was to raise money to help famine relief in Ethiopia, it is notable that Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar to Zoroastrian Parsi parents originally from India's Gujarat region) was the only true East African performing that day.
- #142
(At about 4 minutes) While Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek) sits at a bus stop after work, he writes the song that would later become "Liar."
- #143
Joseph Mazzello said that the first song he downloaded on Napster was "Bohemian Rhapsody".
- #144
(At about the 19th minute) While playing the piano on his birthday, Freddie briefly sings a bit of "Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon".
- #145
(At about 49 minutes) Freddie Mercury's black-and-white harlequin outfit was sold at auction in 2012 for £22,500.
- #146
(About 12 minutes) In Smile's first stage performance with Freddie, Brian May tries to correct Freddie, who is mishearing the lyrics of "Keep Yourself Alive." The song was written by Brian May for Smile, but Freddie Mercury made changes to it once the group became Queen. With Freddie's changes, the song became Queen's first single and the opening track of their first (self-titled) album. As the group progressed, Freddie often put his own stamp on songs written by his bandmates. As an extreme example, Roger Taylor brought a rough version of a song to the group in 1985, and Mercury eventually turned it into two songs: "One Vision" and "A Kind of Magic."
- #147
The film does not mention Queen's controversial decision to perform a series of shows in October 1984 at the Sun City casino and golf resort in South Africa, which was still under the apartheid regime. The group was subsequently blacklisted by the British Musicians' Union.
- #148
By playing Freddie Mercury, Rami Malek won the Best Actor Oscar, becoming the sixth man in the last seven years to win Best Actor for playing a real-life person. Before him were Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln (2012), Matthew McConaughey as Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club (2013), Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014), Leonardo DiCaprio as Hugh Glass in The Revenant (2015) and Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour (2017); the only exception in that stretch was Casey Affleck, who played the fictional Lee Chandler in Manchester by the Sea (2016).
- #149
Following Live Aid, Queen released the album "A Kind of Magic." The "Magic Tour" followed. It was the band's final tour, with Freddie Mercury, who retired from touring in 1987 and died in 1991, and John Deacon (who retired from the group in 1997). Queen Live at Wembley Stadium (1986) is a live video/album recorded almost exactly a year after Live Aid UK, at the same stadium where it took place.
- #150
Queen made their live US debut in 1974 opening for Mott the Hoople. They played their first American tour dates at Regis College in Denver, Colorado.
- #151
(About 1 hour 50 minutes) Part of the original audio recording in which Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones introduce Queen at Live Aid (1985) can be heard before they continue.
- #152
This is the first of at least two biographical films about a music icon directed by Dexter Fletcher. He also directed the Sir Elton John biopic Rocketman (2019).
- #153
The real Roger Taylor trained to become a dentist but switched his degree to biology.
- #154
"We Will Rock You" has two versions. The version rehearsed in the film is based on the "standard" version recorded in the studio for the "News of the World" (1977) album. The version most often played live, including at Live Aid (not shown in the film but included as a video bonus feature), is the "fast" version. The lyrics are the same, but the "standard" version is mostly a cappella with percussion (drums and the audience clapping/stomping) until the guitar solo; the "fast" version has guitar throughout and (true to its name) a slightly faster tempo.
- #155
The film rearranges the chronology of some events for dramatic purposes. For example, Brian May is shown bringing "We Will Rock You" to Queen in 1980, but the song premiered on the "News of the World" (1977) album. Conversely, the "Rock in Rio" festival headlined by Queen is depicted as taking place in the late 1970s, but it actually took place in January 1985 (only five months before Live Aid).
- #156
Contains a major spoiler — show
(About 8 minutes) In the film, Freddie (Rami Malek) meets Brian (Gwilym Lee) and Roger (Ben Hardy) after seeing them perform with Tim (Jack Roth) in Smile, before Tim leaves the group. Freddie approaches them and wants to join the band. In reality, Tim Staffell and Freddie Mercury attended Ealing Art College together in the late 1960s, when Tim introduced him to Brian May and Roger Taylor, who went to different schools. Freddie had actually been Brian and Roger's roommate while they played as Smile and had wanted to join the group, but could not because there was no open position. Instead he joined other groups while Smile worked on their first album, and he also occasionally sang backing vocals for Smile. In 1970 Tim left Smile and Freddie was between groups. Freddie took on the role of lead singer, and after three different bassists, John Deacon joined the group in 1971.
- #157
When Bob Geldof first proposed Live Aid, he stated it would be a one-off event, "never to be seen again." Geldof in fact asked broadcast partners, including MTV and ABC (US) and the BBC (UK), to erase their tapes after the event. ABC is the only partner that erased most of its tapes. Years later, due to heavy demand and widespread bootleg copies on the Internet, Geldof agreed to have the surviving tapes (especially from the BBC and MTV) collected and restored, and in 2004 a DVD box set containing most of the performances was released. In 2007, Queen Rock Montreal & Live Aid (2007) was released (a re-edited and expanded version of We Will Rock You: Queen Live in Concert (1983)). As of 2020, its Blu-Ray and HD-DVD releases are the only officially released high-definition video of any Live Aid performance. No official audio version of the event, including Queen's performance, was released until 2018. The "Bohemian Rhapsody" soundtrack album was the first official audio release of any of Queen's Live Aid performances; it includes only the songs featured in the film version ("Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "We Will Rock You" are excluded). In 2019, the Live Aid audio was re-released on streaming services with Queen's songs added. This is the most complete version, including the two songs left off the "Bohemian Rhapsody" soundtrack as well as the Freddie Mercury/Brian May reprise of "Is This The World We Created?" However, this release does not include the "Aaay-O" audience participation sequence featured in the soundtrack.
- #158
Smile, the group of which both Brian May and Roger Taylor were members, reunited with its original film lineup, featuring Tim Staffell on vocals. This was not their first reunion. On 22 December 1992, they performed two songs together at a concert by Taylor's group The Cross.
- #159
Canadian actor Mike Myers based Ray Foster's slight Scouse accent on his parents, who emigrated from Liverpool.
- #160
In reality, John Reid's exit from Queen's world was amicable, but the film shows the split as harsh.
- #161
In Malaysia the film was rated 18+, and when it was shown in Malaysian cinemas some gay and bisexuality scenes were removed, including the scene in which Freddie Mercury tells Mary Austin he is bisexual.
- #162
'Killer Queen' was Queen's first international hit single from the album 'Sheer Heart Attack'.
- #163
Contains a major spoiler — show
After the Live Aid show, Queen recorded and released several more albums with Freddie Mercury ("A Kind of Magic" in 1986, "The Miracle" in 1989, "Innuendo" in 1991 and "Made in Heaven" in 1995), up to and after Freddie's death in 1991. However, the film does not cover this period, so the albums are not mentioned, and only two songs from them appear in the film: "The Show Must Go On" (from "Innuendo," released during Freddie's lifetime but not from the last album recorded) plays during the final title sequence, and "Who Wants To Live Forever" (from "A Kind of Magic") plays when Freddie visits the health clinic and learns he is HIV Positive.
- #164
UK-based Fang FX created many versions of Freddie Mercury's protruding front teeth for actor Rami Malek. According to Malek, a set of teeth designed to be full-size replicas of Mercury's were "massive."
- #165
Contains a major spoiler — show
(About 2 hours 5 minutes) The character "Ray Foster" is generally based on the real-life EMI executive Ray Featherstone. When Foster refuses to promote the song "Bohemian Rhapsody," Freddie tells him he will forever be remembered as the man who lost Queen. At the end of the film, "We Are the Champions" plays as the montage continues. Ray Foster is shown once more sitting behind his desk, and the shot is timed perfectly to the lyric "No Time for Losers."
- #166
Contains a major spoiler — show
(Around 1 hour 40 minutes) The film omits Queen's 1980 soundtrack album for Flash Gordon (1980) as well as A Kind of Magic (1986), which is regarded as the unofficial soundtrack to Highlander (1986). At one point, however, "Who Wants to Live Forever" (from the second album) is used in the film.
- #167
The historic 16-hour Live Aid concert took place on Saturday, 13 July 1985.
- #168
When Fox began to worry about Bryan Singer's position as the film's director, the studio approached Sir Ridley Scott as a possible replacement.
- #169
(Around 44 minutes) Queen members and Ray Foster argue about the length of "Bohemian Rhapsody" (six minutes) and that it will never be played on the radio. This scene ignores the success of two other recording artists a few years earlier. Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded "Free Bird" for their debut album in 1973 and released it as a single the following year. The song's original studio recording runs over nine minutes, but they released a single version cut to under five minutes. Don McLean released his signature song "American Pie" in 1971 at 8 minutes 32 seconds. The song was so long that when it was released as a single it had to be split across both sides of a 7-inch record. "American Pie" spent four weeks at the top of the Billboard chart and set the record for the longest song to reach number one; that record stood for fifty years until Taylor Swift's 10-minute version of "All Too Well" was released in 2021. Like "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Free Bird" and "American Pie" have since become staples of classic rock radio, where they are generally played in full.
- #170
(Around 1 hour 22 minutes) The camera used in the scene where the "I Want To Break Free" music video is being shot is an Arriflex 35 BL. The camera seen on screen is the one that photographed Freddie Mercury's final video shortly before he died.
- #171
(Around 14 minutes) The song the band recorded in their first studio session is "Seven Seas of Rhye," which appeared on both Queen's debut album Queen (1973) and Queen II (1974); on the former it appeared only as an instrumental piece.
- #172
Contains a major spoiler — show
(Around 1 hour 35 minutes) At one point in the film, Freddie Mercury is reflected in sunglasses focused on a headshot. This is a hidden reference to Highlander (1986), in which a pair of sunglasses is reflected in a headshot at the start of the film as Fasil (Peter Diamond) flees from Connor McLeod (Christopher Lambert). Queen composed and performed all of the songs for Highlander.
- #173
The film accurately depicts vocalist/bassist Tim Staffell leaving Smile to join a group called "Humpy Bong." The group was founded by former The Bee Gees Australian drummer Colin Petersen and Irish folk-rock singer Jonathan Kelly. The band's name is a two-word variation of the name of the school Petersen attended in Australia. Despite early promise based on Petersen's industry connections and frontman Kelly's talent, the group released only one single, performed twice on Top of the Pops (1964) and never played a single live concert. Staffell largely retired from music in the late 1970s. He had a second career focused on model making and animation, working on projects such as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981) and Thomas and Friends (1983).
- #174
Contains a major spoiler — show
When Freddie discusses taking a break to pursue a solo career, Brian and Roger become angry, implying the band will probably end; yet the film never reveals that Brian May and Roger Taylor had side projects outside of Queen. Brian had "Starfleet Project," with Edward Van Halen as a guest musician; Roger had "The Cross," a hard rock band in which he was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist. Although all of their side projects received support from the record companies that produced them, none was as successful as the albums Queen released.
- #175
Contains a major spoiler — show
The real footage of the Live Aid audience was edited and many posters/flags were cut out; most notably a large Brazilian flag that is easily visible in the original Live Aid footage.
- #176
If you compare the Live Aid scenes side by side with the real Live Aid footage, you can see that the staged scenes match down to Freddie Mercury's actions. However, two songs (Crazy Little Thing Called Love and We Will Rock You) were cut despite being filmed. The audience members also differ somewhat from the original footage.
- #177
Henry Rollins described Queen's Live Aid performance with the words: "How many thousand people clapping all at once? It was like the Nuremberg rallies with a band at it."
- #178
(Around 1 hour 1 minute) At one of Freddie Mercury's parties, two girls in hot pants are seen riding bicycles in his house. This is clearly a reference to 'Fat Bottomed Girls' and 'Bicycle Race.'.
- #179
Contains a major spoiler — show
Epilogue: "Freddie Mercury died on 24 November 1991 of AIDS-related pneumonia. He was 45 years old. Freddie and Jim had a loving relationship for the rest of Freddie's life. Freddie and Mary Austin were friends for life. He was cremated according to his family's Zoroastrian faith tradition. 'Bohemian Rhapsody' was re-released two weeks later and reached number 1 again, 16 years after its initial release. In 1992, Queen and Jim Beach founded the Mercury Phoenix Trust in Freddie's honour, dedicated to the fight against AIDS worldwide."
- #180
(Around 1 hour 40 minutes) During the band meeting in Jim Beach's office, Brian May jokes, "Who are these four dinosaurs? Where's Madonna?" Madonna was on the Live Aid bill at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, performing "Holiday," "Into The Groove" and "Love Makes The World Go Round." Madonna's set is regarded as the highlight of Live Aid Philadelphia.
- #181
In January 2019, just as the film awards season was beginning, new sexual abuse allegations against director Bryan Singer were published. As a result, GLAAD withdrew Bohemian Rhapsody's nomination for this year's GLAAD Media Award in the Outstanding Film – Wide Release category, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts removed Singer's name from Bohemian Rhapsody's BAFTA nomination for Best British Film.
- #182
(Around 28 minutes) At the start of the American tour section, while the song "Fat Bottomed Girls" plays, the title words were made inaudible in the sound mix.
- #183
(Around 1 hour 50 minutes) The film depicts the sound engineer raising the main fader and placing a piece of tape marked "do not touch" before Queen take the stage. In reality, Queen's sound engineer Trip Khalaf sneaked backstage and disabled a series of limiters installed in the venue's sound system to ensure all the bands played at the same volume.
- #184
'We Will Rock You' premiered in 1977 as a double A-side with the hit 'We Are the Champions.' It appeared on the album News of The World.
- #185
Tom Hollander (Jim "Miami" Beach) was reportedly fed up with Bryan Singer and even briefly left the film before being persuaded to rejoin.
- #186
"Freddie Mercury" was a stage name; the iconic showman's real name was Farrokh Bulsara. The name "Freddie" emerged as a nickname during Farrokh's childhood years at boarding school.
- #187
Compared with many contemporary films in which American characters are played by British actors, this film stands out for casting three North American actors as British characters: Rami Malek and Joseph Mazzello (both American), playing Freddie Mercury and John Deacon, and Mike Myers (Canadian) as Ray Foster.
- #188
Lucy Boynton was Rami Malek's date at the 91st Academy Awards (Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles, 24 February 2019), where he won the Best Actor Oscar for his role as Freddie Mercury, whom Boynton played as the love of his life, Mary Austin.
- #189
Among the eight Best Picture nominees, the film tied with Green Book (2018) for the fewest Oscar nominations, with five each. The film nevertheless won the most Oscars of any nominee, taking four awards, while Green Book won Best Picture.
- #190
Contains a major spoiler — show
Despite the title, the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" is never played in full in the film; only fragments of the song are heard.
- #191
A scene in which Mary tells Freddie, "I love the way you move on stage. The whole room belongs to you. Don't you see what you can be?" never made it into the film's final cut.
- #192
According to Lady Gaga, her name was actually inspired by Queen's song "Radio Ga Ga." When she was young, her friends and family gave her the nickname "Gaga," and when she began her music career she decided to use it as her stage name.
- #193
Contains a major spoiler — show
Before Queen recorded their first album, Freddie Mercury recorded two songs, "I Can Hear Music" and "Goin' Back," under the fake name Larry Lurex. This is hinted at somewhat in the film, where Queen are in fact recording their first album and Freddie, because of the available studio time, does not want to stop experimenting and doing something.
- #194
The production of the promotional video for the "Bohemian Rhapsody" single cost the band £3,500 in 1975. Adjusted for inflation, that would equal about £25,000 as of 2019.
- #195
Freddie Mercury was known for his sweet tooth and liked to have a small bowl of Smarties (a British chocolate bean candy similar to chocolate M&Ms but made by Nestlé) placed on the table in his dressing room before every concert. However, possibly due to an intolerance to the dye used, he disliked one of the colors and would ask his assistant to remove and throw away all the candies of that color from the bowl. This may be the source of the brown M&Ms story about Ozzy Osbourne (or Van Halen, as a test to see whether requirements for a gig were followed correctly) that Ralph Brown's roadie character tells Wayne & Garth in Wayne's World 2 (1993); the screenplay of that film was co-written by Mike Myers, who also appears in this film as the semi-fictional EMI executive Ray Foster.
- #196
At around the 55th minute, a small framed copy of a photograph of Marlene Dietrich sits to Mary's left as she stands in front of the window in Freddie's flat, and just before the transition to 1980, Mary looks at a poster-sized version of the same shot in her new mansion.
- #197
Some of Brian May's most important Queen compositions are 'We Will Rock You', 'Hammer To Fall', 'Fat Bottomed Girls' and 'I Want It All'.
- #198
The entire production budget of this film was recouped from box office receipts from cinemas in the United Kingdom alone. When worldwide ticket revenue and other media sales are taken into account, this means the film was extremely profitable for both the producers and 20th Century Fox (the distributors).
- #199
Contains a major spoiler — show
At around the 58th minute, the opera music playing as Freddie Mercury calls Mary Austin to turn the light on and off is "Signore ascolta" from Puccini's Turandot.
- #200
Before Rami Malek was cast, Ben Whishaw was reported in the media as being expected to play Freddie Mercury.
- #201
At around the 32nd minute, the EMI executive Ray Foster, played by Mike Myers, objects to the title "A Night at the Opera," saying that nobody actually likes opera. Although it is not mentioned in this film, A Night at the Opera (1935) is also the title of a Marx Brothers film.
- #202
Costume designer Julian Day drew inspiration from Cruising (1980) when planning the costumes for the 1980s New York gay club scene.
- #203
It overtook American Sniper (2014) as the highest-grossing biographical film worldwide and held the record until it was surpassed by Oppenheimer (2023), which also stars Rami Malek.
- #204
"Doing Alright," performed in the film by Smile (and briefly a cappella by Freddie, Brian and Roger), stands out as the only Smile song kept as part of the Queen catalogue. It is the second track on their first (self-titled) album and was included in their live sets in the mid-1970s.
- #205
Mary Austin did not allow filming at Freddie Mercury's real-life home in Kensington, London. A similar-looking house in the London suburb of Surbiton was used for these scenes. Coincidentally, real-life Queen guitarist Brian May was born and raised in Hampton, Middlesex, located just across the River Thames about three miles northwest of Surbiton.
- #206
Director Bryan Singer said that his sudden disappearance toward the end of filming was due to caring for one of his ill parents.
- #207
David Fincher and Tom Hooper were considered to direct before Stephen Frears was approached for the job, but they were ultimately vetoed by Brian May and Roger Taylor.
- #208
Every actor playing a member of Queen had more than one wig for their character.
- #209
At around the 32nd minute, while discussing the band's next album with Ray Foster, Freddie tells him, "We'll mix genres, we'll cross boundaries, we'll speak in bloody tongues if we want to." This was essentially a harbinger of what they would do with the song "Bohemian Rhapsody."
- #210
After the film's first official trailer was released (on 15 May 2018), it drew criticism for its "lack of portrayal of Mercury's sexuality." Only one such scene is shown very briefly in the trailer. It concerns an intimate moment between Mercury and another man.
- #211
After Joker (2019), The Dark Knight (2008) and Oppenheimer (2023), it is the fourth highest-grossing film worldwide to win an Oscar in an acting category.
- #212
Although John Deacon (born 1951) is the youngest member of Queen and Roger Taylor (born 1949) is the second youngest, Joseph Mazzello (born 1983), who plays Deacon in the film, is actually eight years older than his co-star Ben Hardy (born 1991), who plays Taylor.
- #213
In 2010, screenwriter Peter Morgan called producer Graham King while King was working on the film Hugo (2011) and told him he wanted him to be involved in bringing a speculative screenplay about the band Queen to the screen.
- #214
According to an interview with Live Aid organizer Bob Geldof (around the 2-hour mark), the film exaggerates the effect of Queen's performance on the public's donations to famine relief that day. In reality, he noted, the phone lines only went crazy later, after David Bowie finished his set and introduced a video showing starving Ethiopians set to The Cars' "Drive."
- #215
Before the first shoots began, Rami Malek decided to go out in public areas to test-drive the prosthetic teeth and get a sense of them, and he was completely shocked by the laughter, mockery and comments of many people.
- #216
Ray Foster (Mike Myers) never takes off his sunglasses.
- #217
Rami Malek won the Best Actor Oscar for this film, following his Oscar nomination for the role.
- #218
Joseph Mazzello, who plays John Deacon, appeared alongside Rami Malek in The Pacific (2010), where he played PFC Eugene Sledge, whose dog was named Deacon.
- #219
The scene outside the bar where Queen first meets John Reid (around the 21-minute mark) was one of the scenes directed by Dexter Fletcher. Editor John Ottman confirmed this.
- #220
At around the 17-minute mark, Mary's father says to her, "clever girl," a line well known from Jurassic Park (1993), in which Joseph Mazzello had a leading role.
- #221
This is the second collaboration between Aidan Gillen and Lucy Boynton, both of whom appeared in Sing Street (2016), although they never had scenes together.
- #222
At around the 47-minute mark, Mike Myers plays Ray Foster, who says he has worked with Jimi Hendrix. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) features a famous scene in which Myers reads Hendrix's obituary aloud.
- #223
Oscar Isaac turned down the role of Freddie Mercury, saying: "At the time I was saying, 'I don't think anyone's going to want to see someone pretend to be Freddie Mercury.' And of course everyone wanted to see someone play Freddie Mercury." Bryan Singer had previously directed Isaac in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016).
- #224
The superimposed dates that occasionally appear in the lower-left corner of the screen are formatted in a typeface quite similar to the logo of Mr. Robot (2015).
- #225
Socialite Fay Ranson strongly claimed to have appeared in this film. It was proven that this was not the case, as the producers were brought to the scene and rejected the claim.
- #226
At around 1 hour 30 minutes, when Paul Prenter arrives at his home in Munich with his companions, a blonde woman there resembles the Austrian actress Barbara Valentin (born Ursula Ledersteger).
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