By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Director Bryan Singer hasn't been involved with the Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" for over a year, but with a fresh exposรฉ alleging that he sexually assaulted minors and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts "suspending" his nomination, will he be the film's Oscars Achilles heel?
"Bohemian Rhapsody" has had a lifetime's worth of trials and setbacks on its 10-year journey to the big screen. And yet despite everything working against it — from Singer's surprise firing mid-production for absences and clashes with the cast, to the negative reviews right before its release — it seems to have come out of the fires unscathed. The $50 million production became a global box-office phenomenon, grossing over $209 million in North America alone and over $834 million worldwide to become the most successful musical biopic of all time. It developed into a top awards contender too, winning the best drama and best actor for Rami Malek at the Golden Globes, while also receiving two key Screen Actors Guild nominations, a Producers Guild nod and five Oscar nominations, including best actor and best picture.
But then on Jan. 23, almost exactly a month before the Oscars and one day after its nominations, The Atlantic magazine published an article in which four men claim they were sexually abused by Singer while underage. Singer has denied the allegations. A representative for Singer declined to comment further for this article.
The next day, the advocacy group GLAAD removed the film from its Media Awards nominees, and four days later, "Bohemian Rhapsody" lost the coveted SAG ensemble award to "Black Panther."
"I think that it would have won SAG ensemble if it hadn't been embroiled in controversy," said Sasha Stone, founder of the blog Awards Daily.
The SAG voting period ended on Jan. 25, two days after The Atlantic article published. As if a precursor to what might happen at the Academy Awards, Malek walked away with his own acting prize.
This week, just days before the British Academy film awards, BAFTA announced that Singer's nomination suspension because the alleged behavior was "completely unacceptable and incompatible" with its values. The film, however, will still compete Sunday for the Outstanding British film award, among others.
Those involved with the film have, in general, opted not to talk about their ousted director. Singer was kept far away from the publicity tour but retained his directing credit and could stand to make $40 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Producer Graham King became the public face of the production along with Malek. And their messaging stayed laser-focused on Freddie Mercury and doing right by him and the band. How could voters argue with that?
Malek, on the day of his Oscar nomination, said that he was "not aware" of the allegations against Singer. He's since presented a more informed stance and said that his "heart goes out to anyone who has to live through anything like what I've heard and what is out there." When pressed, he's has often gone back to the refrain that audiences can take solace in the fact that Singer was fired.
The Atlantic article didn't exactly light Hollywood on fire, either. Singer is still lined up to direct another movie for a $10 million payday . And people still like "Bohemian Rhapsody."
"I don't see too many people even upset about the controversy. That Atlantic piece came out after nominations. I still think the movie would be nominated if it had run before. It's not like it contained anything surprising. Everybody has heard these whispers and these stories," said Glenn Whipp, the awards columnist for the Los Angeles Times. "It's just a movie that people really enjoy and they're not going to let anyone get in the way of their enjoyment."
With just a few weeks to go before the Academy Awards, hardly anyone is predicting a "Bohemian Rhapsody" best picture win. New York Times Carpetbagger columnist Kyle Buchanan called it, "practically inconceivable." But the general sentiment is that a loss won't be because of Singer.
Malek, on the other hand, seems to be a lock for best actor in spite of everything.
"There's a real divide between what academy members seem to think about the movie and what they think about Rami Malek and his work in the movie," Whipp said. "People praise him for his commitment, his transformative turn. People are overlooking the film's flaws and still voting for Malek. And they're able to separate any qualms about Bryan Singer and this latest investigation from his work. It's complete compartmentalization.
"An actor told me that if 'Bohemian Rhapsody' won best picture he would quit the academy," Whipp added. "But he's voting for Rami Malek for best actor."
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle โ a series of 10 plays โ to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More