Update: Bryan Singer has been fired from Bohemian Rhapsody. In a statement, the director said that Twentieth Century Fox had refused him leave to deal with health issues. Singer’s mother is ill.
“I wanted nothing more than to be able to finish this project and help honor the legacy of Freddie Mercury and Queen,” Singer wrote, “but Fox would not permit me to do so because I needed to temporarily put my health, and the health of my loved ones, first.”
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There has been no news as to the future of the production.
Original article: The Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody has been put on hold due to the “unexpected unavailability of [director] Bryan Singer”, according to Hollywood news blog Deadline.
Singer’s representatives told the publication that the director’s absence was due to “personal health matters”, but Singer’s history of sexual abuse accusations have led many to speculate whether he will be next in the long line of Hollywood bigwigs outed as predators.
Singer has been accused in three lawsuits of sexual assault. Two of these suits included sexual misconduct against minors.
Bryan Singer has left production of Bohemian Rhapsody due to “health matters”, reps say
Deadline reports that Singer’s reps are eager to get back to filming Bohemian Rhapsody after the holidays, though it wouldn’t be surprising if production studio Fox is replaced, with two weeks rumoured to remain of the shooting schedule.
Kate Aurthur of BuzzFeed News also confirmed that Singer has been dropped by his “longtime publicist”.
It’s also worth noting that Singer’s longtime publicist, Simon Halls, is no longer representing him. His contact is now his lawyer.
— Kate Aurthur (@KateAurthur) December 2, 2017
Singer, who helmed most of the X-Men films, deleted his Twitter account last month around the same time a man named Justin Smith accused him of predatory behaviour — and around the same time articles of his alleged molestation were silently removed from the web.
To add fuel to the fire, Singer’s longtime friend and Hollywood designer Gary Goddard recently took a leave of absence from his company due to his own sexual abuse allegations. Singer and Goddard were accused in the same lawsuit of sexual assault against a British teenager.
Singer’s flight became somewhat of a meme Saturday, with many on Twitter disbelieving his reps’ claims of health issues.
Bryan Singer is suffering from a “personal health matter”. pic.twitter.com/527Ms2ugWm
— And now Woodo. Except for viewers in Scotland… (@MrWoodo) December 2, 2017
Bryan Singer said in a statement, pic.twitter.com/KlTAgBZmvd
— God Rest Ye Merry Gerwigs (@ElSoderbergho) December 2, 2017
Bohemian Rhapsody is still reportedly set for a Christmas 2018 release. It stars Rami Malek, Aiden Gillen, and Lucy Boynton.
The original article was titled “Queen biopic halted after accused sexual predator Bryan Singer goes AWOL“.
Feature image: Dick Thomas Johnson via Flickr (CC BY 2.0, resized)
