‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is the champion with $50M debut

NEW YORK — The Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” and 20th Century Fox are champions of the world.

“Bohemian Rhapsody,” starring Rami Malek as the late Queen frontman, shrugged off production troubles and mediocre reviews to debut with $50 million in weekend ticket sales in U.S. and Canada, and another $72.5 million internationally, according to studio estimates Sunday. Expectations had pegged the film closer to $35 million to $40 million in its opening weekend.

But audiences rushed to theaters to see the widely praised performance by “Mr. Robot” star Malek, and to hear Queen’s footstomping anthems like “We are the Champions,” “Another One Bites the Dust” and the operatic title song. The movie at times has an almost concert-like feel, including a lengthy recreation of the band’s 1985 Live Aid performance.

The Fox release trounced one from Disney. Despite a production budget of $125million, Walt Disney Co.’s lavish, big-budget “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” opened with just $20 million. Disney is set to merge with Fox in the coming months, effectively ending the 103-year-old Fox, one of Hollywood’s six major studios.

“Bohemian Rhapsody,” made for $52 million, was largely dismissed by critics as an overly conventional rock biopic. But the film proved more popular with moviegoers, who gave the PG-13 release an A CinemaScore and 4½ stars out of five on Comscore’s PostTrak audience survey.

“Nobody’s Fool,” pairing Tiffany Haddish and Tyler Perry, opened in third with a so-so $14 million. For a movie that cost $19 million to make, the muted performance of “Nobody’s Fool” seemed likely a result of oversaturation. Two films starring Haddish — “Night School” and “The Oath” — have opened in the past six weeks.

Joel Edgerton’s acclaimed gay conversion therapy drama “Boy Erased,” starring Lucas Hedges, opened with a strong per-theater average of $44,000 in five theaters.