Thursday, April 18, 2024

Under Pressure: Director Bryan Singer Disappears from Freddie Mercury Movie, Production Halted

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This is a first: a director, Bryan Singer, has disappeared from his movie. The studio has halted production on the London set of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the story of singer Freddie Mercury and the group Queen. Singer went off to Thanksgiving and never returned, apparently.

The studio says: : “Twentieth Century Fox Film has temporarily halted production on Bohemian Rhapsody due to the unexpected unavailability of Bryan Singer.”

Singer’s publicist then said: “This is a personal health matter concerning Bryan and his family.  Bryan hopes to get back to work on the film soon after the holidays.”

I’ll bet Fox and star Rami Malek hope he gets back to work soon, too.

This is highly unusual. But Singer has disappeared from sets before. More urgently, in this time of sexual harassment accusations, Singer is often mentioned. Once a great friend of Kevin Spacey, whom he directed in “The Usual Suspects,” Singer was named three years ago in a scandalous lawsuit claiming he was part of a sex ring. The case was dismissed eventually. But Singer’s name still turns up in various stories. It’s unclear whether his being AWOL has something to do with a new case or possibly a story.

Is this the real life? Or is it just fantasy? Absolutely nothing about this story makes sense, and the “health” excuse doesn’t ring true. But we’ll see.

 

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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