MUSIC TO MY EARS

It’s the little movie that could: Bohemian Rhapsody has become the highestgrossing music biopic ever.

It’s quite amazing when you consider the competition: award-winning movies like Ray and Walk the Line. It’s even more amazing when you remember how turbulent nearly everything concerning Bohemian Rhapsody was since day one. From the very beginning, the press was against the project. Cast members came and went. Even the director disappeared towards the end of filming.

The film hasn’t had much more of an easy ride since release, especially not from film journalists who sneered at the film.

Despite everything, the film has grown and grown and has just passed the major box office milestone of $500 million (actually $540m now).

That’s money that Ray ($125m) and Walk the Line ($186.5m) could only dream of. The closest biopic to it is 2015’s Straight Outta Compton, which made $202m.

Even The Greatest Showman, has “only” made $435 million worldwide. As a longtime musical fan, it’s gratifying that two of the last year’s most surprisingly successful films are musicals.

with Mike Shaw MY MOVIE WEEK