Bryan Singer has been fired by Fox, after causing chaos on the set of the Freddie Mercury biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody.
Well, that escalated quickly.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Twentieth Century Fox said that “Bryan Singer is no longer the director of Bohemian Rhapsody.”
The issues on set appear to have been more widespread than just his disappearance over the Thanksgiving break. In fact, Singer had disappeared on multiple occasions, necessitating that cinematographer Thomas Newton Sigel step-in so production could continue.
Tom Hollander, who was due to play Queen manager Jim Beach, temporarily quit over to Singer’s behavior, though he was eventually convinced to return to the project, according to a THR source.
THR continued to outline the problems on set, reporting that Rami Malek – who is playing Freddie Mercury – had complained to the studio about Singer’s unprofessional attitude on set, unreliability, and constant disappearances.
One reported confrontation between Malek and Singer was said to have become particularly heated, and resulted in Singer throwing an object at Malek. The two later settled this dispute and filming was expected to continue.
As previously reported, Singer did not return to set after Thanksgiving. This was allegedly down to health issues on Singer’s part and one insider told THR that Singer is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder due to the environment on set.
Sigel was temporarily directing in Singer’s absence before production was shut down by Fox. Principal photography has two weeks remaining, and a replacement director is expected to be announced in the coming days.
Original story:
Bohemian Rhapsody, the upcoming Rami Malek-helmed Freddie Mercury biopic, was expected to resume filming following a break for Thanksgiving. However, director Bryan Singer did not return to set following that break, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Twentieth Century Fox Film has temporarily halted production on Bohemian Rhapsody due to the unexpected unavailability of Bryan Singer,” the full statement by Fox read. THR also reported that a studio insider informed them that force majeure letters had been provided to the crew.
Representatives for Bryan Singer provided a statement to the BBC – the biopic had recently been filming in London – saying that the absence was due to “a personal health matter concerning Bryan and his family.”
The statement continued, “Bryan hopes to get back to work on the film soon after the holidays.” There was no further information regarding Singer’s illness at this time.
Per further comments from THR, this is not the first time that Singer has disappeared mid-production on a film. Similar situations occurred on the sets of both X-Men: Apocalypse and Superman Returns.
Bohemian Rhapsody is still slated by Twentieth Century Fox to premiere in December 2018.
Editor’s note: For decades, Bryan Singer has been accused of allegedly sexually abusing young men. More info, as well as now-deleted comments from actor Noah Galvin. Why are we telling you this?