Despite increased competition over the Thanksgiving holiday, the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, enjoyed a solid fourth weekend – November 23-25 – at the worldwide box-office. In North America, it picked up another $13.85 million, bringing its total to more than $152 million in North America in its first 24 days. It now ranks as 2018’s #16 biggest title, both in the U.S. and worldwide (though the majority of most holiday pictures have yet to be released).
Internationally, the film scored $38 million for the same weekend, for a total international cume of $320 million. Its worldwide tally is now $472 million.
Bohemian Rhapsody is on target to become the #1 music biopic of all-time, since that statistic began in 1978. Its U.S. tally of $152 million puts it just $9 million behind the current champ, 2015’s Straight Outta Compton.
The movie was #1 in its Nov. 2-4 opening weekend in North America, earning an estimated $50 million at the box-office. It picked up another $72.5 million internationally, giving it a tremendous $122.5 first full weekend worldwide. The film, from Twentieth-Century Fox, had its world premiere at London’s SSE Arena in Wembley on October 23 and opened in the U.S. on Nov. 2. Reviews were mixed; see below.
Rami Malek (TV’s Mr. Robot) portrays legendary Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury; Ben Hardy (X-Men: Apocalypse, Mary Shelley, Only the Brave) plays Roger Taylor; Gwilym Lee (The Hollow Crown, Jamestown) plays Brian May; Joe Mazzello (The Social Network, G.I. Joe: Retaliation) plays John Deacon. Lucy Boynton (Murder on the Orient Express) stars as Mercury’s lifelong companion, Mary Austin.
So what did the critics think? As of Nov. 25, the website Rotten Tomatoes had counted 317 reviews, 198 of which were ranked “Fresh,” for a 62% positive rating. Of the Top Critics, there were 34 reviews, with 17 of them positive, for 50%. Fans seem to have ignored the critics: the site reveals an enormous Audience Score of 92% as of Nov. 25.
Thumbs up! Queen in 1975
Here are some review quotes:
USA Today: “Bohemian Rhapsody” the song is a sonic masterpiece and “Bohemian Rhapsody” the movie is just a conventional rock flick.
Daily Telegraph (U.K.): The final hurrah for Mercury’s genius, this huge, hubristic spectacle lets you grant his troubled film a pass: at least it keeps on fighting to the end.
Us Weekly: if you are not cheering along with the crowd as Mercury belts out an ultra-satisfying rendition of “We are the Champions,” then a doctor should check your pulse.
Los Angeles Times: Sprawling, jumbled and disappointingly airbrushed…
Variety: With a performance as commanding as Rami Malek’s at its center, why isn’t Bohemian Rhapsody a better movie?
Rolling Stone: There’s only praise to heap on Rami Malek whose tour de force performance as Freddie Mercury will definitely rock you.
New York Post: What we ultimately wanted from Bohemian Rhapsody was not carbon-copied concerts, but behind-closed-doors insight into a deeply private, complicated, internationally beloved superstar.
The Wrap: An object example of how a film can be entertaining and even exhilarating without being particularly good.
The New York Times: A baroque blend of gibberish, mysticism and melodrama, the film seems engineered to be as unmemorable as possible, with the exception of the prosthetic teeth worn by the lead actor, Rami Malek.
Watch the “We Will Rock You” trailer
Related: Bohemian Rhapsody‘s karaoke challenge
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