Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury

First trailer is out. Looks pretty good.

[quote]I fear it's going to be whitewashed for the straights.

Have you been following anything about the production of this movie? The rest of the Queen band members control the rights to the music, and they are ones exerting control over what the movie can show.

That is why Sasha Baron Cohen dropped out of the project.

I will always see Rami as his gay character from the fox sitcom "the war at home". He's all wrong for Freddie. Yes, I expect they'll straightawash it, probably play up his friendship with Mary Austin as a great love story.

R2 has it. The band is controlling the narrative.

Has anyone asked Rami what his God thinks of a devout Coptic Christian taking on the role of a depraved homosexual?

How is he allowed to travel on planes? Those huge bags under his eyes exceed onboard luggage dimensions.

What on earth are you talking about r5? I've never seen Rami give any indication he is religious. You realize your parents being religious does not mean you are.

I assume

Is it true raimi is homophobic? If so wjy would he be in a production with singer and star as a homosexual pop star?

I assume Glaad is about to raise hell that a heterosexual actor is playing a gay/bisexual part as they did when a gay actor Matt Bomer played a trans part?

Those bloody hypocrites! They'll probably award Rami a Glaad award.

I'm so confused on what is going on. Is there some weird troll campaign against Rami I am unfamiliar with?

No it isn't true "Raimi" is homophobic, as r3 said this isn't even his first time playing a gay character. He played a gay character in the 2005 sitcom the War At Home.

I want the Malek bros to murder my vagina with their huge Coptic cocks!

R12 Ick go away frau.

"I assume Glaad is about to raise hell that a heterosexual actor is playing a gay/bisexual part as they did when a gay actor Matt Bomer played a trans part?"

Someone should raise hell that trolls like you feel the need to hijack threads just to bitch about trans people

How dare an American play a Brit! This is ridiculous.

The same director of this is also doing an Elton John musical biopic film. I'm more interested in that as there's no way that will be straight washed.

Plus Taron Egerton is hot.

R15 Lmao tell that to all the shitty brits and australians that steal roles from american actors.

R14, I hate Glaads blatant hypocrisy not trans people.

R16 Bryan singer is doing a elton biopic too? Look at her.

R19 Dexter Fletcher is.

Bryan Singer is still in directors jail.

From the preview clip, the only time Rami resembles Freddie is with the right lighting and the iconic Freddie Mercury pose. Other than that, those prosthetic teeth and wig look ridiculous and is a major distraction.

The glasses help the most, raimi has big frog eyes, freddy did not.

As a lifelong fan I admit I didn't want to see a film about Queen or Freddie but I accepted the idea after a while. Now, after seeing the trailer I have to say I'm excited. It looks really good. The guy who plays Brian sounds spot on. Rami looks good but his voice is a bit weird. We'll see.

I know I'm nitpicking, but John singing Bo Rhap?

YAY for the Coptic Orthodox. They don't allow their sons to be mutilated!

It's odd seeing Rami pumped up for Freddie's later years when he always wore the wifebeater and showed off how muscular he had become.

I was surprised by that too, R23. I would think Brian May and Roger Taylor would be annoyed at John Deacon being portrayed as a singer when they were and he very much wasn't. I did notice that the part in the trailer where they're all singing looks very much like a scene in the video for 'Somebody to Love'.

I'm surprised by references to Freddie Mercury being bi. I always thought his self-identification as bi was part of the bargaining process early on. Mary Austin was even supposed to have told him that he wasn't bi, but gay, and he didn't like hearing that. I assumed Barbara Valentin was more of a close friend/muse like Montserrat Caballe.

Is Barbara Valentin in the film? The whole Paul Prenter mess seems to be an important part of the story line, Jim Hutton is obviously also mentioned...

Official site for the movie

Who will be playing Monserrat Caballé? Russell Crowe? It seems like the perfect role for him.

No, I'm not excited. Was never a particular fan of Mercury.

Sacha Baron Cohen would have been a much better lead. I wish he stayed with the movie, even if it ends up being whitwashed.

Reddit is already claiming that Freddie wasn't gay. Fuck this movie.

Well, that's reddit for you.

Except those fans have always claimed he wasn't gay, nothing to do with this movie, just homophobic little shits. Plus if you pay attention and followed the movie freddy will have a gay lover in the film.

r26 She was just a slut, but e.g. in a talkshow appearance with her daughter it didn't seem to me like she had been something other than his fag hag, don't think they had a romance, just slutty friends.

He spoke of her like any gay would of their hag, "My soulmate" etc..

Bryan Fuller

[quote]ANYONE ELSE MILDLY ANNOYED (enough to tweet about it) THAT THE #BohemianRapsody TRAILER FEATURES GAY/BI SUPERSTAR FREDDIE MERCURY FLIRTING WITH AND TWIRLING WITH A WOMAN BUT NO INDICATION OF HIS LOVE OF MEN?

I think the rest of Queen really loved him and wouldn’t allow an inaccurate portrayal. I suspect Freddy’s sexuality wasn’t quite Kinsey 6.

From the trailer, you'd assume Freddie was a heterosexual, with a few teeny doubts when men fleetingly glance at him....gar-bahge.

They're going to say it's about the music and they didn't want to focus on Freddie's personal life.

Why would Queen try to hide Freddie's sexuality? They had no problem with it and loved him and certainly weren't ashamed of him or it while he was alive. But Freddie was more in life than gay so the movie should show his entire being.

I just don't want to be disappointed. I want to see a good film. This guy seems slight to me and Freddie was not slight.

Because movies about gay men don't make money at the box office.

They've never made a movie about Freddie. He's wildly famous and popular - even dead. He's not exactly Harvey Milk. I guess we'll see but if people don't see movies about gays then what difference does it make how the movie emphasizes/deemphasizes it?

I know it's just a trailer and I like it but it's hard to get past this guy's bug eyes. Freddie was handsome.

Freddie was a hairy guy, it was a huge part of iconography. I'm finding it difficult to accept Rami for that very reason.

Is Freddie Mercury a gay icon? I never hear any of my gay friends talk about Mercury or Queen.

What a big fuss over nothing..

I'm glad the surviving members of the band have control-who more than Queen themselves knew the "real" Freddie? The band never shied away from camp or the glam/glitter trappings of era they came of age in, and at their heaviest, they were rivals to the hardest-rocking outfits out there.

No one else could have pulled off a tune like this one. This is the uber-camp version. Hilarious, and heavy as heck.

People don't get it. At one point in the production of the movie Freddie dies 2/3rd of what the through and the rest of the movie was glorying themselves how they carried on and kept releasing music. Who knows, maybe that has changed,but that was the vision they had for this movie.

R47 The movie is about the 15 year period from Queen forming to the Live Aid performance in 1985.

Well I hope that is true, this movie has been under production for 8 years and has gone through many creative changes r48. But that is what the band wanted at one point.

Everyone remembers Sacha Baron Cohen, but don't forget openly gay Ben Whishaw was at one point slated to be Freddie.

Brian May yesterday: "Since there seems to be a question out there ... This is a film about Freddie. Yes, Queen was a massive part of his life, but the film is a portrait of Freddie as a human being."

The finale of the film? A great set!

Also, those who want more details of Freddie's life should read 'Mercury,' written by a music journalist and close friend. She details a lot of his private life.

This will be the cheesiest campfest since Showgirls.

This is gonna be a huge hit.

The climax of the movie is apperantly the live aids concert, it's about queens formation to the historical live aids concert.

Live-Aid.

Live. Aid.

Yes, we know, and we know how to spell it, too.

See how cute Freddie is at R53. Malek isn't cute enough.

I hope they get the armpit hair right!

His performance is amazing at Live Aid. At what point does he know he is dying of AIDS? Will this be addressed in the film if the movie ends with this concert?

Sasha Baron Cohen would've been MUCH BETTER! This movie will suck because the remaining egos still cannot see that QUEEN IS FREDDIE MERCURY.

r61 if you knew anything about Queen you'd know that Queen is not just Freddie Mercury.

r60 he suspected at the time, I think. According to interviews with people close to him he definitely knew in 1987.

R62 Okay, 30% Brian May, 68% Freddie Mercury.

Freddie didn't think he was dying in 1985.

They were amazing at Live Aid not just because of how great they were but because they were the only group which took it all seriously rather than treating it as an off-the-cuff lark and spent the entire week before practicing and carefully selecting the material as well as timing it perfectly - they also chose the ideal performance time which worked for both London and Philly that no one else seemed to appreciate. Freddie's later performance that night with just Brian on guitar and Freddie singing was beautiful.

Hope they include "Under Pressure.," Mercury at one of his sexiest performances.

Something tells my may wanted this movie to be about him like selena quintanilla's father had the film be more about him and his struggle than selena's.

The Advocate also slams the trailer:

"What will I be doing in twenty years' time? I'll be dead, darling! Are you crazy?" – Freddie Mercury

I saw in the Wikipedia article about this that they cast someone as “his boyfriend”, so obviously not shying away from that aspect.

R69 good to hear. I think people are overreacting.

[quote] Is it true raimi is homophobic?

I find that amusing since my Gaydar clangs at every glimpse of him.

Oh great, as if Rami Malek isn't already ugly AF!

^^ !! ^^

Is it true that the film will not feature his homosexuality or his battle with aids?

I don't think the band will whitewash it. Right after Freddie's death, Brian May was very vocal about how there's nothing wrong with being gay or having AIDS, and that the tabloids were part of the problem, as they used language like "admits he has AIDS". In an interview, Brian specifically challenged the use of the word "admits", as it suggested that Freddie had done something bad to have caught AIDS.

Brian could have an interesting story arc, too. He left his wife and kids when he fell in love with another woman. I believe he's still with that woman today. When he talks about it, he seems very sad that it happened, but he couldn't deny his feelings for this other woman.

Freddie himself struggled with his sexuality. He lived with a woman for a few years before falling for a man, and it was his girlfriend who encouraged him to admit that he was gay. They still maintained a friendship, since she was the only person who loved him before he started to become a well known musician. You can't fault him for not coming out. Back then, no one did, unless they were outed (Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova). Even so, his fashion choices made it pretty clear to the community that he was family. It must have been challenging to have to wrangle with pronouns when singing and writing songs.

Why wouldn't the public see it because he's gay? The man is immortalized by a famous statue, and the band's music is still popular, regularly turning up in TV shows and movies.

[quote]Why wouldn't the public see it because he's gay?

You underestimate how much of the public is still not comfortable with gay men. They are supportive "in theory", but seeing two men together makes them very uncomfortable.

That trailer reminds me of the leprechauns dancing around the 18" mini Stonehedge in, "This is Spinal Tap".

R75 the “other woman” Brian May left his wife for is none other than EastEnders legend Anita ‘Angie Watts’ Dobson.

Some footage from his last year in 1991:

You guys haven't been following the movie? They announced an actor for freddies boyfriend months ago.

Fascinating guy:

hilarious

Malek won't capture his campy charm:

My mother is the biggest Freddie stan you'll ever meet, watched all the documentaries out there about him and the band, and she's pretty hyped about the film so far. I was curious to see how she would react, being someone with much more Freddie knowledge than I have.

R78, I was just going to mention Brian and "Angie". I believe they separated for a while and he may have had a fling but they got back together and IIRC that's when they got married.

They were all interesting. Roger was in dental school, John was an engineer and Brian was a finished dissertation short of his PhD. Brian said his dad had been so proud of him cause as an RAF ground crew he had wanted to continue his education in aeronautics but never did or could. When he stopped his PhD to devote to the band fulltime he said his dad wouldn't talk to him for a year. Of course Dr. May later went back and finished it in astrophysics - something about comet particles or whatnot.

[quote]They were all interesting. Roger was in dental school,

Freddie's teeth must have really been distracting for him to look at.

For all their intelligence, it's astounding that they thought a film where Freddie dies halfway through would be better. Thank goodness others convinced them to make it primarily about Freddie.

New, final (?) Trailer.

Bryan Singer gets the credit as Director even though he left the project near the end. Maybe it will turn out to be his best movie. The trailer looks promising.

As he should, he directed 3/4 of the film.

Just watched the trailer and the film looks shocking, like a cross between [italic]Get Him To The Greek [italic] and [italic]Rock Of Ages [/italic].

The only down side so far is Malik's speaking voice. Freddie had a beautiful mellifluous voice. Malik sounds like a chain smoker.

John Deacon's gay son is a youtuber. This is his reaction to Bohemian Rhapsody trailer.

He's ...special.

I think Rami Malek is handsome, many guys with larger eyes are. To say they're froggy or bug-eyes is a bit over the top. I had no clue he had a twin either. I liked him in Mr. Robot very much. Good to know the Coptic Orthodoxy doesn't believe in the snip too! Thanks for the info R24.

YES I'm a huge Queen fan (despite the closet shit) and a huge Singer fan (despite the hearsay and shady associates).

I JUST SAW RAMI MALEK IN 'PAPILLON' TONIGHT, HE WAS HEARTBREAKING!

word is its a turkey as its mostly bout the band and not him (natch, they produced it and wanted it that way, thus sasha b cohen left the project)

pre reviews are horrid

papillon: one of the biggest flops of the year.

R96. Ew. Anyone who is a 'fan' of Singer needs to shot like him.

omg deacon's son is repulsive !!!!! screams mental case.

malek looks retarded. movie is a dud word of mouth sez….

meth, sad....

Too bad. I'm going to see it with Queen fan pals no matter what.

Good on you R103.

ya his eyeballs have the goiter tell tell sign of yrs of meth uses

sad fuk

I never watched it, but does Malek have the same creepy vibe on his tv show?

He may have some abnormality, he don't look right in the eyes, correct.

Reddit is so cool and so fucking annoying at the same time.

The SJWs better be up in arms if the movie tries to downplay that Freddie was far more gay than bi, if he was even legitimately bi at all.

The SJWs already had their hissy fit from the first teaser trailer. The full trailer clearly shows his male lover, and Brian May has been quoted as saying they (fictionally) move his knowledge of having AIDS forward to include that before the famous Live Aid concert. 'Freddie' says, "What if I don't have time?" in one scene.

The roar of shit from sasha baron cohen quitting the role of his life, cause the damn band wanted the movie to be equally bout them, spells doom for this shit fest.

plus malek is a retard.

It has been said multiple times by different sources that what S. Baron Cohen said is a complete bullshit and yet here on DL someone(s) (like r111) keep repeating that shit over several threads. Are you Sasha Baron Cohen?

I'm looking forward to the film and I'm glad it's a story about the band as well, even though it's primarily focused on Freddie. They messed with the timeline but I'll try not to be too nitpicky.

[quote]I'm surprised by references to Freddie Mercury being bi. I always thought his self-identification as bi was part of the bargaining process early on. Mary Austin was even supposed to have told him that he wasn't bi, but gay, and he didn't like hearing that. I assumed Barbara Valentin was more of a close friend/muse like Montserrat Caballe.

r26, I'm confused by this as well. I thought he was gay but now I'm hearing that he was bi and that the romantic love of his life was a woman. Has this been a case of bierasure?

In today's world and in today's words he was bi, but he was actually gay. Mary Austin was his girlfriend at the time he became famous and when he was discovering his sexuality. He often described her as the love of his life. They remained very close friends until his death.

Barbara Valentin was a very close friend. It's possible, but unlikely their relationship was sexual.

r114, did these women say he had a genuine sexual/romantic relationship with them or did they never comment on it? I'm not too familiar with the story, did Mercury himself ever address it and come out as bi or something?

The movie will flop HARD

r115 Mary Austin rarely gave interviews and is pretty private, but as someone in this thread said, when Freddie told her he was bisexual she told him "I think you're gay". They were together for about 6 years. By the end he was cheating on her with men.

Barbara Valentin died over 10 years ago. I think she said they had sex but Freddie's PA and other friends said their relationship was never sexual. Who knows?

Over many, many years I read numerous books about Freddie and Queen and I think he was gay. Freddie never officially came out. He'd often say a lot of flippant things in interviews so one can't really conclude anything from that. He'd say: "I'm as gay as a daffodil, my dear.", or "I sleep with men, women and cats."

Also, random girlfriend (pre-Mary) said he couldn't get it up and wanted to meet her gay friends.

r117, thanks for the response.