Production on the Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody has come to a sudden halt due to the absence of its director, Bryan Singer.
The studio has said the reason is a “health matter” involving the director but there have been rumors quietly swirling the production and they involve Singer and his questionable behavior. The film has taken breaks more than once because of the director going AWOL from the London shoot. The latest rumor is that he hasn’t reported to the set since the Thanksgiving break.
The studio issued this statement when the story broke:
“Twentieth Century Fox Film has temporarily halted production on Bohemian Rhapsody due to the unexpected unavailability of Bryan Singer.”
The rather vague statement made the rounds over the weekend which prompted a rep for Bryan Singer to elaborate further on the matter. The rep stated:
“This is a personal health matter concerning Bryan and his family. Bryan hopes to get back to work on the film soon after the holidays.”
The studio still hopes to make its December 25, 2018, release date but they didn’t comment on how far along the film was in its production schedule before Singer took leave. While there are some indications they will wait for him to return, there are rumors going around that the studio was looking for a replacement even before Singer went AWOL. There are also reports that the film’s star, Rami Malek, has taken a few issues with Singer’s in and out availability during filming.
It will be interesting to see what the studio does next and we’ll be following this one closely.
