It’s funny how things work. In the early days of development on “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Dexter Fletcher was among the directors — which included David Fincher, Stephen Frears and Tom Hooper — who were eyeballed to helm the movie. As you know, he didn’t land the gig and went on to direct other projects including “Eddie The Eagle,” while lining up possible musical biopics including “Sunny Afternoon” about The Kinks, and “Rocketman” about Elton John. Well, time is a flat circle or something, because Fletcher is back in the game for Queen.
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The director has been hired to replace the fired Bryan Singer on “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Singer has reportedly been unreliable throughout the production, even leaving some scenes across numerous days to be shot by cinematographer and longtime collaborator Newton Thomas Sigel. Additionally, his behavior led to clashes with the cast, with Rami Malek complaining to the studio citing the director’s absence, unreliability and unprofessionalism, and Tom Hollander briefly quitting the film as well. Singer has responded, saying he’s been dealing with the illness of one of his parents, leading to his own decline in health. The filmmaker claims when he asked 20th Century Fox for some time off, they refused.
With Fletcher, the studio and producers will get a steady hand to guide the film through the two weeks left in production, and someone who will still help them hit their planned December 25, 2018, release date for the project. It’ll be interesting to see who gets the final director’s credit, but that’s something agents and guilds will probably have to sort out. However, Fletcher will get to scratch a musical itch, and “Bohemian Rhapsody” will likely serve as a practice round for his own musical aspirations. [Variety]