BRYAN SINGER FIRED AS DIRECTOR OF BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

Update: Well, it seems that Bryan Singer won’t be back after all as THR reports that Twentieth Century Fox has fired Singer as the director of BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY. The report also adds a few more details on what went wrong, which reportedly began when Singer was absent during production on several occasions. Bryan Singer had apparently been warned by the studio that they wouldn’t tolerate any unprofessional behavior on his part, but it would seem that those warnings fell on deaf ears. The director frequently clashed with Rami Malek, who then complained to the studio of Singer’s unprofessionalism and unreliability. Although things didn’t get physical, one confrontation with Rami Malek led to Bryan Singerthrowing an object. Tom Hollander, who plays Queen manager Jim Beach, also quit the film due to Singer’s behavior, but was later persuaded to return. For his part, Singer has apparently claimed that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because of the tensions on the set, but I suspect that we’ll be hearing more about this, as well as other allegations, before too long. There are two weeks of principal photograph left on the film, and the studio is expected to name a new director shortly.

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Principal photography on BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY got underway back in September, but it seems that Twentieth Century Fox has temporarily halted production on the Freddie Mercury biopic due to the “unexpected unavailability” of director Bryan Singer. According to THR, Singer failed to return to the set after the Thanksgiving holiday break, which has left producers uncertain about the future of the film and even considering replacing him as director.

In a statement to the BBC, Bryan Singer‘s representative said that the reason for his absence stems from “a personal health matter concerning Bryan and his family,” and that he “hopes to get back to work on the film soon after the holidays.” However, THR’s sources add that production on BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY hasn’t exactly been free of conflict, with Singer reportedly often clashing with star Rami Malek, who plays Freddie Mercury in the film. A cinematographer was also forced to step in and direct during another “non-showing” by Bryan Singer. The report also notes that this isn’t the first time that Singer has disappeared during a production, as he momentarily vanished during the shooting of X-MEN: APOCALYPSE and SUPERMAN RETURNS as well. I suppose we’ll have to wait to see if Bryan Singer really does return.

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY is still currently slated for a December 25, 2018 release.