Bryan Singer Fired from Queen Biopic Following Altercation with Rami Malek

The director had also disappeared for days at a time during the shoot

BY Josiah HughesPublished Dec 4, 2017

The long, ill-fated Queen biopic has hit another snag as director Bryan Singer has been fired from the project.

Singer was absent from the film for multiple days without explanation, forcing cinematographer Thomas Newton Sigel to stand in for him as director.

On Friday (December 1), producers Fox, New Regency and Graham King said they were halting the film due to Singer's "unexpected unavailability." Now, The Hollywood Reporter confirms that he's been fired, along with some other details.

Sources tell the publication that Singer's unprofessional behaviour on and off set resulted in multiple complaints to the studio. Tom Hollander, who plays Queen manager Jim Beach, briefly quit the film due to Singer's behaviour.

Further, star Rami Malek — who is playing Freddie Mercury in the film — complained about Singer's numerous absences, unreliability and unprofessionalism.

Making matters worse, tensions between Malek and Singer got to the point where the two had a heated altercation on set. According to THR, there was no physical contact but Singer did throw an object at Malek.

Despite all of these problems, Singer had still been given another opportunity to return to set and finish the film, which has two weeks of principal photography left. Since he hadn't returned in the last two weeks, he was finally let go.

Another source told THR that Singer claims he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following his tensions on set of the film.
 

Latest Coverage