Photo: Paul Bachmann
There were two wins for the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody at yesterday’s Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills.
While the film has received significant criticism for its handling of both Freddie Mercury and the band he fronted, Rami Malek’s portrayal of Mercury has by contrast garnered a much more favourable reaction, and it was he who picked up Best Drama Actor during the ceremony. More surprising was the movie’s triumph, with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association awarding it Best Picture – Drama.
The first hint at the censored approach filmmakers were taking with Bohemian Rhapsody came in 2013 when Sacha Baron Cohen, who had been originally attached to play the lead role, left citing creative differences. Brian May would tell the Daily Mirror that, ‘it seemed like a good idea in the beginning but the truth is, he’s too recognisable’, while Cohen himself later had some of his own explanations.
There was trouble in 2017 too when director Bryan Singer left to be replaced by Dexter Fletcher. Despite all this, Bohemian Rhapsody proved to be one of the biggest box office hits of last year.