Queen guitarist Brian May has hit back at the critics who panned the hit Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
Last year, Bohemian Rhapsody became the highest-grossing music biopic of all time – despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, after an early teaser trailer also came under fire from writer and producer Bryan Fuller for not paying mind to Mercury’s bisexuality.
Not only that, but this week Rami Malek picked up the Best Actor Award at this week’s Golden Globes for playing the iconic frontman. Speaking after the victory, May said that the success of the film showed that early criticism of the film may have been premature.
“The mistake that critics made was reviewing the trailer instead of reviewing the film,” May told Deadline. “They jumped to conclusions. Once people stake their claim, it’s hard for them to withdraw.”
Responding to the ‘straightwashing’ claims, Malek’s co-star Lucy Boynton called the criticism ‘frustrating‘.
“It’s when people want to have something to criticise that is kind of jarring, especially because it does and the one thing that we’re so proud of with this film is that I don’t feel it ever steps over the line into any kind of expose or intrusiveness,” she said
“I don’t know what people wanted to see in terms of… they always ask about the darkness of Freddie and such and it’s like, it’s a celebration and ode to [him].”
This week also saw Bryan Singer, the director who was fired from Bohemian Rhapsody under a cloud of controversy, respond after the film’s Golden Globes triumph.
It was also recently announced that a Bohemian Rhapsody sing-a-long experience is set to launch in cinemas across the UK this month. Cineworld, Vue, Showcase and Everyman cinemas are just some of the locations hosting the event, starting January 11. You see the full list of participating cinemas and book tickets here.