News December 17, 2018

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is now the highest-grossing music biopic of all time

Queen fans the world over are undoubtedly jumping for joy, with news that Bohemian Rhapsody has officially become the highest grossing music biopic of all time.

Last month, it was revealed that the Rami Malek-starring Bohemian Rhapsody was on the fast-track to becoming the most successful music biopic ever.

Telling the story of English rock band Queen and its charismatic frontman Freddie Mercury, the film has gained praise from audiences all over the globe, though critical reviews have been somewhat mixed.

Now, as Deadline reports, Bohemian Rhapsody has raked in more than $608.7 million worldwide (including $25.6 million in Australia), officially making it the highest-grossing musical biopic ever.

These impressive figures put the film above the 2015 N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton ($201.6 million) and the 2005 Johnny Cash film Walk The Line ($186.4 million).

Most notably, these takings also put it above other highly-successful musical films such as 2008’s Mamma Mia! and 2017’s The Greatest Showman, which may have seemed like an impossible task to some.

Check out the trailer for Bohemian Rhapsody:

In an interview with Deadline, 20th Century Fox’s President of Worldwide Marketing Pam Levine and Co-President Kevin Campbell discussed why they think the film has been so successful.

“Once our marketing team saw the film, we knew immediately that our key charge was to ensure that we created a global campaign that matched the singular energy and communal exhilaration of the theatrical experience,” they explained.

“Layer on top of that, a music catalog that could, on its own, power both a film and an entire marketing campaign, and we clearly had an incredible amount with which to work.”

“What we’re so proud of is that every function area within our marketing team, and our entire studio, had a hand in the success of this film. It was as global and cross-functional a campaign as we’ve ever executed, and a true team effort.”

Check out Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ at Live Aid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7nkVj4Raco

Queen guitarist Brian May also recently expressed his fondness for the film, stating that he believes Rami Malek deserves an Academy Award for his portrayal of frontman Freddie Mercury.

“He’s incredible. Without doubt he’ll be on the nominations list for an Oscar and well deserved as well,” May explained. “He inhabited Freddie to the point where we even started to think of him as Freddie. Really remarkable.”

“We’ve lived with this project for nine years and it’s incredible to see it doing so well,” May continued. “It came out to shitty reviews, as some of our work has before, but the public has embraced it magnificently.”

“Everybody gave 200%, from the actors and technicians to the production team and hair and make up, everyone. You don’t get any lukewarm responses. The guy who plays me should be getting awards all over.”