Bohemian Rhapsody is going out on the highest ay-oh note possible for 2018.
With the latest grossing figures in, the film has now become the highest-grossing music biopic of all time. Per Deadline, Bohemian Rhapsody has grossed $608.7M globally, with $175.7M coming from North American alone. On top of those figures, Bohemian Rhapsody has become the ninth-highest grossing picture of 2018, according to Box Office Mojo.
Of course, all of these rewards have likely now made all of the hard work to make Bohemian Rhapsody a reality all worth it, especially when it comes to what Rami Malek put his body through to become Freddie Mercury.
Malek spoke with The Wrap recently and talked about the intense dieting he had to go through to physically portray Mercury. To film the Live Aid scene, he said, “I didn’t really want to bulk up, per se — I just wanted to get my body into a place where I could do a 22-minute concert over and over for five days and not be out of breath.”
He continued, “Well, it’s highly impossible to do that. There were days when I found myself laying on my back trying to just absorb as much air as possible. But at the same time, I was on a very specific diet. I bulked up for that first week and immediately had to drop muscle and weight and go into shooting young Freddie, who is very scrawny. I just had to be really cognizant of when to work out and when to crash diet. I don’t recommend it for anyone.”
We bet the Golden Globe nominations are making the whole dieting process seem not so bad. Hopefully, when Academy Award nominations are announced on January 22, 2019, Malek and the film will receive some nods there, too.
Erica Banas is rock/classic rock news blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.
