‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is box office champion
NEW YORK » The Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody” and 20th Century Fox are — for now, at least — 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.
That was well beyond expectations. But audiences rushed to theaters to see the widely praised performance by Malek, the “Mr. Robot” star, and to hear Queen’s foot-stomping anthems like “We are the Champions,” ‘’Another One Bites the Dust” and the operatic title song. The movie, which Bryan Singer directed before being replaced by Dexter Fletcher, at times has an almost concert-like feel, including a lengthy re-creation of the band’s 1985 Live Aid performance.
In soaring to No. 1, the Fox release trounced one from Disney, which will soon own the studio. Despite a budget of $125 million, Disney’s lavish “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” opened with just $20 million.
One usually winning formula — Tiffany Haddish plus anything — came up short.
“Nobody’s Fool,” which paired Haddish with Tyler Perry, opened in third with a so-so $14 million. While far from disastrous for a movie that cost $19 million to make, the muted performance of “Nobody’s Fool” seems a result of oversaturation. Two films starring Haddish — “Night School” and “The Oath” — have opened in the past six weeks, and “Night School” is still No. 12 at the box office.
In limited release, 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.