Roger Taylor reveals the odds of a ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ sequel happening
The Bohemian Rhapsody sequel rumors are swirling once again. Queen‘s Roger Taylor was asked in a recent interview about the likelihood of a sequel to the 2018 film happening.
Now, the Queen drummer is revealing what it would take for a Bohemian Rhapsody followup to happen.
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Starring Rami Malek, the Freddie Mercury biopic went on to make more than $900 million worldwide and win various awards including the Academy Award for Best Actor. Due to the success of the film, both Taylor and Brian May are often asked if a sequel to the biopic could happen in the future.
Now, in a new interview, Taylor is addressing the sequel rumors once again. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the Queen drummer says that another film is unlikely to happen.
“I have to say no,” he says. “I really do think that we need to sit back for a year or two and look at things and see if that is a believable or credible thing to do.”
He then goes on to praise the original Bohemian Rhapsody film. Despite its success, however, Taylor feels that a sequel could make it seem like they are “cashing in” on the opportunity to make a new film simply because the first was so successful.
“The movie was a great hit,” he continues. “We were delighted, obviously. But I think I wouldn’t want to be seen as cashing in again. I’d have to have a very, very good script and scenario to make that work. Right now, I can’t think of a way of doing a sequel.”
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Taylor adds that the only way a sequel could happen is if the script is right. The film industry has too many sequels that aren’t as good as the originals.
“If somebody comes up with a genius plan, maybe we’ll think about it,” he says. “Right now, we’re just very happy with what the movie did. There are so many sequels that don’t match up to the original one. There are obvious ones that did, but on the whole, I think it’s dangerous territory.”
The 2018 film greatly depicts the life of Mercury throughout his teenage years and adult life. Bohemian Rhapsody ends with the late Queen frontman learning that he has HIV in 1985 and shows his final onstage performance at Live Aid.
Back in March of 2019, it was reported that a Bohemian Rhapsody sequel was being considered and would pick up where the 2018 film left off. According to the report, Queen’s manager Jim Beach had intentions to pick up the story post-Live Aid performance and show Mercury’s final years before his death in 1991.
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In June of 2019, Adam Lambert squashed these sequel rumors. In an interview with NME, the singer who tours with Queen dismissed the reports that a sequel was in the works. Lambert himself made a super brief cameo in Bohemian Rhapsody that many viewers of the film missed.
Then, earlier this year, May once again said that a follow up to the film is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
“Don’t think we didn’t think about it,” May says. “We’ve talked. At the moment, I don’t think that would be an uplifting thing to do. I’m not saying it’s impossible because there is a great story there, but we don’t feel that’s the story we want to tell at the moment.”
Do you want to see a sequel to Bohemian Rhapsody? Let us know in the comments below.
