Some of the best movies of all time have, of course, won the Oscar for Best Picture. There are a whole bunch of movies that really had no business even being nominated, at least in my opinion. This list is full of movies that might not be terrible movies, but they don't deserve to be among the greatest ever recognized. Some of the movies on this list even won! So here I go, risking the wrath of the internet with my list of the worst movies nominated for Best Picture.

Vice (2018)

I think Vice got nominated because there are two really wonderful performances from Christian Bale as Dick Chaney and Sam Rockwell as George W. Bush. The movie, written and directed by Adam McKay, is actually a good movie, don't get me wrong, but Best Picture good? I'm not sure. Bush wasn't popular in Hollywood at the time, so it was also a political choice, in my opinion.

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

This one is tough for me. I love Rami Malik's performance as Freddie Mercury, and he fully deserved his Best Actor Oscar. However, the history in the movie isn't exactly accurate, especially the end when the producers of the movie combined a number of events to tug on our heartstrings, but instead just made me mad. This one's on me.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is widely considered one of the worst nominees ever. I can't say I disagree. I remember being baffled when it was nominated, and all these years, I still am. I tried to rewatch it a couple of years ago to see if I was wrong, but I wasn't. It's not a movie I like, and I don't think I ever will.

The Greatest Show On Earth (1952)

The Greatest Show on Earth has all the ingredients to be a great movie. A great cast led by Charlton Heston and Jimmy Stewart. A legendary director in Cecil B. DeMille and a fascinating subject in P.T. Barnum. It just doesn't work, though. It feels like what should be a fun watch is actually a chore.

Doctor Dolittle (1967)

Kids movies aren't often nominated for Best Picture, so it's weird that, of all the enduring, wonderful, family-friendly movies to be nominated, it was Dr. Doolittle. It's a fun movie for kids, but it doesn't hold up as an adult, at all. It's too bad it's one of the only family flicks to ever get nominated for Best Picture.

The Blind Side (2009)

Even if you set aside all the revelations that have come out about the real history of Michael Oher and how it is vastly different from how it is portrayed in the movie (and the book the movie is based on). Sandra Bullock is great, as is the rest of the cast, but the movie feels more like a TV movie of the week than a Best Picture nominee.

Crash (2004)

Crash is quite possibly the most notorious and controversial Best Picture Winner in history. It's a fine movie, I guess, but it really never deserved a nomination, much less the win. There is talent in every corner of the movie, but somehow it just misses. I did really like it the first time I saw it, and so maybe the voters were like me. It hasn't held up, though. The fact that it beat out movies like Brokeback Mountain, Capote, and Munich makes it that much more confounding.

Cavalcade (1933)

Cavalcade is based on a wonderful play by Noel Coward, but the movie is... a far cry from the stage play. What's weirder for me is that I love the kinds of stories that bring in real historical events and how they might affect fictional characters, yet something about this movie simply doesn't work.

Babel (2006)

If I'm completely honest. 2006's Babel is completely confusing to me. It feels like one of those movies that feels smarter than it is, or is even trying to be. I add that I've only seen it once, and it probably deserves another chance. I'll have to change that, I think.

The Godfather Part III (1990)

The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are two of my favorite movies of all time, especially the first one. I don't hate The Godfather Part III, but I don't think it comes close to the first two, and I think it only took home an Oscar nomination because it concluded one of the greatest stories ever told on film with the rise and fall of Michael Corleone.

Cimarron (1931)

Despite Westerns being one of the most enduring and popular genres in Hollywood history, only four have ever won Best Picture. Unforgiven, No Country For Old Men, Dances With Wolves, and 1931's Cimarron. The first three on that list are stone-cold classics. Cimarron? Not so much. Partly this is because of the dated attitudes and light racism, but mostly, it's just not all that good, despite being a huge hit when it was released.

Chariots Of Fire (1981)

I know I'm not alone in getting frustrated with Chariots of Fire having won Best Picture in 1982, especially since it beat out Raiders of the Lost Ark. I have a theory that the movie is so loved, and was so loved at the time, because of the amazing score by early electronic artist Vangelis. It also won an Oscar, and that was well deserved.

Les Misérables (2012)

2012's Les Misérables, based on the legendary musical, is a great example of a good movie, but maybe not a great one. The performances are memorable, especially Hugh Jackman, but it's impossible not to compare to the stage version of the musical, which I love, and I'm always going to ding it for that. It's not fair, I know, but it's how I feel. Maybe one day I'll come around on this version.

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

This, for me, is the easiest one to add to this list. I really don't care for the Avatar franchise. To be clear, I respect the work here, and the technology used to make them is transformative, but I can't get past the thin plot and the design of the creatures, even if they look really cool, they also come across as very silly to me. I hope James Cameron makes a bunch more, because they are worth the effort, they just aren't Best Picture worthy.

The Big Chill (1983)

This was another easy one for me to list here. I'm a member of Gen X, and this Baby Boomer nostalgia shlock drives me crazy. I do love the soundtrack, though. I wore that cassette out when I was a kid, and I still adore Motown because of it.

War Horse (2011)

There is no question that the Academy has never bestowed enough honor on Steven Spielberg. He is, without question, the best director of my lifetime. Even his weakest movies are usually very watchable. War Horse is the rare exception, and for some reason, it was nominated for Best Picture.

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

This is a prime example of great performances making the movie. Without the absolutely wonderful turns by Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy, Driving Miss Daisy would be completely forgotten these days. I do remember liking it at one time, but subsequent rewatches have left me feeling flat. It beat out a few great movies to win the Best Picture Oscar, too: Born On The Fourth Of July, Field of Dreams, Dead Poets Society, and My Left Foot

Ordinary People (1980)

Is Ordinary People better than Raging Bull? It beat out the Scorsese classic for Best Picture in 1981. It beat out Coal Miner's Daughter, too. It's not a bad movie by any means, it's just not good enough to compete with movies like the ones it triumphed over.

The Deer Hunter (1978)

This one is sure to cause some controversy, as I recognize that many people adore The Deer Hunter. I always think of podcaster John Roderick when he described watching a Russian Orthodox wedding "in real time" in this movie. It is just brutally long (and I like long movies). Add in the wild idea that Russian Roulette was ever a thing in Vietnam (it wasn't), and these days, The Deer Hunter just makes me mad.

The Accidental Tourist (1988)

First, I love that Geena Davis won an Oscar for Supporting Actress for her performance in The Accidental Tourist. It's just not that great of a movie otherwise. It was a cultural phenomenon when it was released, but these days, it's slow and, frankly, boring.

Chicago (2002)

I really want to like Chicago, but I just can't. I think it's because it'll always feel like a high school musical to me. That's not fair to anyone, especially the people who made this movie, but I'll never come around on it. Again, that's on me. It is what it is.

Emilia Pérez (2024)

Emilia Pérez might be a controversial choice for this list, but probably not as controversial as the movie was when it was released in 2024. I really didn't like this movie, but I had a lot of arguments over it with people whose opinions I respect, so maybe I'm wrong, but it's just not for me. It definitely wasn't one of the 10 best movies of the year.

Shakespeare In Love (1994)

Yet another easy one for me. Like others on the list, it's not a bad movie. But is it better than Saving Private Ryan? Pulp Fiction? The Shawshank Redemption? Quiz Show? Those were all released in 1994, and Shakespeare in Love beat them all at the Oscars. That's not the movie's fault, but facts are facts, and Shakespeare in Love was far from the best movie of that year.

Finding Neverland (2004)

I'm frankly shocked that Finding Neverland was a popular as it was, and that it's endured in that popularity by its many fans. It's not for me. Johnny Depp was my favorite actor at the time, so maybe I was too excited for this and felt let down, but I didn't connect with this movie at all.

Don't Look Up (2021)

I actually really like Don't Look Up, but I was really surprised that it was nominated for Best Picture. The performances are great, the script is snarky and dark (two things I love), and the movie is really well done. This is just a case of feel for me. It doesn't feel like a Best Picture nominee, though this was one of the hardest to include, for what that is worth.

Rock and roll biopics have been all the rage in recent years, but Rocketman and A Complete Unknown are hardly the only great ones out there. Actors and directors have been making great ones for years. Movies like The Doors, The Buddy Holly Story, and Sid & Nancy have been rocking audiences for years. Here is our list of some of our favorites from the '70s until today.

The Doors

Oliver Stone's The Doors is one of the trippiest rock n' roll bio-flicks out there, for sure. Appropriately so, given the band (and the lead singer) the movie is about. Val Kilmer completely disappears into one of his best roles as Jim Morrison, the legendary and enigmatic singer in the '60s band that defined acid rock for pop fans everywhere. Even if you don't like the band, there is so much going on in the movie, that you'll love it.

Love & Mercy

2014's Love & Mercy has a unique structure that features both Paul Dano and John Cusack playing The Beach Boys' musical genius and leader, Brian Wilson. Cusack does an amazing job portraying Wilson in the '80s, struggling with his mental health. Dano is simply brilliant as Wilson at his most creative in the '60s as he is writing and recording Pet Sounds, which is considered by many to be one of the greatest – if not the greatest – albums of all time.

Elvis

Sure, Austin Butler took some heat for his Elvis Presley impression in Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, but that's unfair, he's great in the unconventional biopic. Elvis is so well known and so widely impersonated, that it was almost impossible for Butler to win over all of The King's fans, but he won over audiences of the movie and the Academy, earning an Oscar nomination.

Sid And Nancy

Sid Vicious was more of a spectacle than a musician, which made him, and his wild story, perfect for a biopic that focused less on music and more on his combustible relationship with his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. Gary Oldman is, as always, amazing as Sid, and Chloe Webb is equally great as Nancy.

What's Love Got To Do It

Tina Turner's nickname was "The Queen of Rock and Roll" and she certainly deserved the title. Not only did her amazing career last more than half a century, but her ex-husband, who was not a good person, basically invented rock n' roll with his song "Rocket 88" in 1952. The gripping biopic about her career and their relationship earned an Oscar nomination for Angela Bassett, who, incredibly, is one of the many deserving actors who has yet to win an Academy Award.

Bohemian Rhapsody

2018's Bohemian Rhapsody, about the legendary Freddie Mercury and Queen, is not the most historically accurate movie, but it is a super fun movie that does get a lot of the story right. Even if it's not a perfect version of the true story, the music is fantastic and the performances by the entire cast are incredible.

Cadillac Records

Cadillac Records is a little different than most of the movies on this list because it's really about Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody), who wasn't a musician, but the founder of Chess Records. Chess was one of the most important labels in the early days of rock n roll. Still, it features some fantastic performances of legendary rockers and blues singers like Mos Def as Chuck Berry, Beyonce as Etta James, and especially Jeffery Wright as Muddy Waters.

La Bamba

Richie Valens is one of the more tragic stories in the early days of rock. Valens was just 17 when he was killed in the infamous plane crash that also took the lives of Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. La Bamba tells that story, plus so much more, and features a fantastic performance from a young Lou Diamond Philips as the first Mexican-American rock star.

Back To Black

2024's Back To Black wasn't all that well received by critics or fans, but that isn't fair. Sure, it's not a perfect retelling of Amy Winehouse's all-to-short life (Winehouse is portrayed wonderfully by Marisa Abela), but it is a great movie and features much of the singer's best songs from her brief career.

Ray

Ray Charles is a titan in American music history and the biopic about his life, simply called Ray is not only a great way to learn about the legend, but it's great for longtime fans too. Jamie Foxx is simply spectacular playing Charles, in all the highest moments, and the lowest.

A Complete Unknown

For decades, people have been trying to tell Bob Dylan's story on screen and in books. A Complete Unknown, starring Timothee Chalamet as the enigmatic legend, might finally have come the closest to doing Dylan's story justice.

The Buddy Holly Story

If you're only familiar with the Gary Busey of the last couple of decades, you may be amazed to learn he was once nominated for an Oscar. Busey stars in The Buddy Holly Story as the titular rock pioneer and his performance and the movie are both top-tier. The 1978 film is one of the earliest entries on this list and it helped kick off the whole genre.

Rocketman

Taron Egerton is the reason Rocketman is great. The story is believe it or not, actually a little sanitized, as Elton John's partying was absolutely legendary. The movie, done with the blessing of the English rocker, doesn't completely shy away from the darker moments of his career, but it is tamed down a bit. Of course, the music is amazing and the partnership between John and Bernie Taupin is wonderful to see on screen.

Great Balls Of Fire!

Jerry Lee Lewis was one of the most controversial stars in the early days of rock and roll. He was the original bad-boy rocker. In Great Balls of Fire, Dennis Quaid portrays Lewis, who rightfully drew criticism for marrying his 13-year-old cousin, played in the movie by Winona Ryder, when he was 22. Yeah, that really happened, and the movie tells the whole story.

The Dirt

Motley Crue is legendary for their completely over-the-top lifestyle and in the book The Dirt, it's all laid bare. It's one of the wildest reads in all of rock and while the movie based on the book, released by Netflix in 2019 is a little cartoonish, it's still a really fun movie.

Control

Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division, was one of the most tortured souls in rock history. The movie based on he and his band doesn't hold back in portraying just how rough he had it, too. Joy Division has taken on near-mythic status in the decades since Curtis' death and this movie will explain exactly why.

The Runaways

All-girl bands were still very rare when The Runaways hit the scene in the late '70s. In the movie, with the same name as the band, audiences learn just how cool the group was and it includes a fantastic cast including Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie and Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett. It wasn't as well received as some of the other movies on this list, but any music fan will love it.

Beyond The Sea

Bobby Darin wasn't a typical rock n roller, he was more like a bridge between the jazz singers of an earlier era and the early rock stars. He falls somewhere in between, and his tragic story is at the center of the biopic Beyond The Sea starring Kevin Spacey as Darin. Spacey even did most of his own singing in the performance.

I'm Not There

I'm Not There isn't a straight biopic, and the artist it's loosely based on, Bob Dylan, isn't even mentioned by name. It's an experimental biopic, so to speak with multiple actors playing a fictionalized version of Dylan, including an incredible performance by Cate Blanchett as one version of the legend.

Nowhere Boy

There have been quite a few biopics about The Beatles and individual members of The Beatles. Some have been good, others quite bad, and Nowhere Boy is definitely the latter. It tells the story of a teenage John Lennon (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his struggles with his family, as well as the very early days of The Beatles and his first band, The Quarrymen. It's a touching story and Taylor-Johnson is convincing as the icon, and it's a pretty faithful telling of Lennon's early life.

24 Hour Party People

Not all great rock bios need to be about rock stars. Sometimes it is the guy behind the scenes who has a story worth telling. Such is the case with 2002's 24 Hour Party People, about the early days of the "Madchester" scene in the 1980s in Manchester, England that launched bands like The Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses. The movie is about Tony Wilson, who owned The Hacienda nightclub where many of those bands started, and the record label that signed many of the bands.

Backbeat

Most of the movies about The Beatles focus on the very early days of the band, and Backbeat is no different. The movie is a little cheesy, but it does take a different angle and focuses a lot of the attention on the friendship between John Lennon (Ian Hart) and the band's original bassist, Stu Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff), which is the heart of the band's formation before Sutcliffe left (and ultimately died young) and the Lennon/McCartney partnership took over.

Last Days

Like a couple of other entries on this list, director Gus Van Zant's Last Days is a fictionalize version of the final days of Kurt Cobain's life. Though the main character, played by Michael Pitt, looks just like the legendary musician, his name is different, as are all the main characters in the story. Frankly, it's a pretty dark, but well-made film, that didn't really need to hide under the veneer of a "true" story.

Jimi: All Is by My Side

This is a complicated entry. Jimi: All Is by My Side, about the great Jimi Hendrix, isn't a great movie. The biggest problem is that the producers didn't get the rights to use Hendrix's music, so it's a music biopic without the most important part. It's worth mentioning here, though, because Andre 3000 is actually really great in the movie, capturing Hendrix's essence perfectly.

Jersey Boys

Based on the wildly popular Broadway jukebox musical by the same name, Jersey Boys is all about the originals of Frankie Valli and his band, The Teenagers. If you live musicals, this one is a great one features tons of hits by the band, and the performances are fantastic.

CBGB

This one is a little weird to have on the list because it's not for everyone. CBGB tells the story of Hilly Kristal (Alan Rickman), and his famous nightclub, CBGB on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Any music fan knows the club as the birthplace of punk rock where bands like The Ramones, Television, Blondie, and The Talking Heads all got their start. All those bands, and more, show up in the movie and while it's a little cartoonish, if you love that music, you'll love the movie.

Elvis

Austin Butler may be the most recent star to appear as Elvis Presley, but Kurt Russell has the honor of playing him in the first biopic of the legendary King of Rock and Roll. The made-for-TV isn't as good as the more recent Baz Luhrmann flick, but Russell is fantastic and worth watching for his performance alone.

Stoned

The Rolling Stones are one of the biggest rock bands of all time, but there haven't been many movies made about them. One of the few that has been made, Stoned, is about the tragic and short life of the band's original lead guitar player, Brian Jones. It isn't the best movie on this list, as it feels a little more than half-baked, but it's on the list because it's a rare movie about The Stones.

We blurring the lines here between rock and hip hop, but we're hardly the first as the two have been intricately connected ever since Run DMC teamed up with Aerosmith for "Walk This Way" in the mid-'80s. Straight Outta Compton is easily the best hip-hop bio flick, about the legendary LA group N.W.A. It even features, O'Shea Jackson Jr., playing his father, Ice Cube.

Bound for Glory

Woody Guthrie is definitely not rock and roll, but without the legendary folk singer, we might not have rock and roll, so his biopic, starring David Carradine, definitely belongs on the list.

Telstar: The Joe Meek Story

One of the most under-told stories in rock history has to be the life of Joe Meek. Meek was an early producer who is most famous for writing and hiring the band to record the song "Telstar," which became the first #1 rock record by an English band in America, a year before The Beatles played Ed Sullivan. Telstar: The Joe Meek Story tells the whole, tragic story of Meek's life and work.

Bob Marley: One Love

Once again we're blurring some lines here, as Bob Marley is obviously a reggae artist, but there is no artist in music who blurs the lines more - or has the universal appeal - than Marley. Bob Marley: One Love is a fairly tame telling of Marley's life and music, but it's a worthwhile watch for any music fan.

We all know movies like Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, and Titanic have made a ton of cash at the box office, with each comfortably eclipsing the $2 billion line. However, there are other films whose impressive theatrical runs aren’t as remembered, despite making a ton of money before they left the silver screen. Here are 32 movies you might not know made over $500 million, per Box Office Mojo.

The Smurfs (2011)

Remember The Smufs, the 2011 CGI/live-action hybrid starring Neil Patrick Harris and those titular blue villagers from the classic cartoon of the same name? If not, you’ll probably be even more surprised to learn the forgotten film made a staggering $564 million at the box office. Sure, the vast majority of that was in international markets, but still!

Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2008)

Despite being far from the best Indiana Jones movie, 2008’s The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull happens to be the best-performing entry in the franchise with a ridiculous $787 million theatrical run. Sometimes folks go in droves to see a bad movie, especially when there’s a nearly 20-year break between entries in a franchise.

Mission: Impossible II (2000)

Mission: Impossible II is considered by many to be the worst film in the Tom Cruise action franchise, and there’s a case to be made for that. And even though we don’t look at the 2000 movie fondly, there’s no denying the fact that moviegoers were all about it nearly a quarter-century ago, as the film made $546 million worldwide during its theatrical run.

The Grinch (2018)

It’s no secret that animated movies make a ton of cash, especially releases that appeal to both children and adults. And it appears that was the case for Illumination’s 2018 adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ classic Christmas book, The Grinch. This movie, which we often forget about, made an impressive $540 million back in late 2018.

The Passion Of The Christ (2004)

Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ was one of the most talked about movies of the early 2000s, but we honestly forgot it made THIS much money during its run. The celebrated or controversial film, depending on who you ask, made a mind-boggling $612 million worldwide, with most of that being in the United States (remember all those church groups buying up entire screenings?).

Mamma Mia! (2008)

We all remember Mamma Mia! for its catchy renditions of ABBA classics, a fun-loving spin on a Broadway musical, and its all-star cast, but what’s often forgotten is the fact that it raked in a ton of cash. Though the lion’s share of its $695 million gross was in international markets, there’s no denying this Greek-set romance story was a success.

Ted (2012)

The 2012 summer box office was wild with successful movies like The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, but there was another major hit released between two of the best superhero movies of all time: Ted. Seth MacFarlane’s raunchy comedy about a man and his stuffed animal was a massive hit with audiences, bringing in $549 million by the time everything was said and done.

Cinderella (2015)

There have been a crazy number of Disney live-action adaptations over the past decade or so, but one that is often left out of the conversation is Cinderella. Though not as successful as The Lion King or The Jungle Book, this Lily James-led fantasy film brought in an impressive $542 million worldwide back in 2015.

The Meg (2018)

People must really like to see a) Jason Statham movies or b) shark-centric thrillers or c) all of the above because The Meg, a seemingly non-descript 2018 action flick took a massive bite out of the box office with a wild $529-million run a little more than a half-decade ago. And while its sequel didn’t reach as high of a mark, it still performed really well.

Meet The Fockers (2004)

No one would hold anything against you if you didn’t remember a single thing from Meet the Fockers, the 2004 sequel to the Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro 2000 comedy, Meet the Parents. This is especially true when it comes to how well the movie performed worldwide: $523 million.

World War Z (2013)

One of the more recent additions to the list of movies with disastrous productions, World War Z was able to turn it around and absolutely kill it in theaters back in the summer of 2013. Despite all the problems during production and post-production, as well as OK reviews, this Brad Pitt zombie thriller brought in $540 million worldwide.

Night At The Museum (2006)

The Night at the Museum franchise has gone on to produce multiple sequels and give families something to watch on family movie night, and so it shouldn’t be surprising that the Ben Stiller-led fantasy comedy performed well at the box office. But did you know it made $574 million back in 2006? That’s a stack of cash.

Life Of Pi (2012)

Sometimes it feels like Ang Lee’s Life of Pi is a movie that has been lost to the sands of time, but let’s not forget that the 2012 book-to-screen adaptation of one of the most decorated novels of the early 21st century made more than $609 million during its run. It didn’t perform all too well in the States ($125 million), but its international gross was something to behold.

The Croods (2013)

Remember The Croods, the 2013 animated film that saw Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Nicolas Cage, and Catherine Kenner voice a family of cavemen? If the answer is no (or even if it is yes), you’ll probably be surprised to learn that it made $587 million worldwide during its theatrical run, which was enough to launch an entire franchise that included movies, shows, and even video games.

The Boss Baby (2017)

The Boss Baby is a movie many of us probably remember for one reason or another, meaning we either watched the Alec Baldwin-led animated film or saw its trailer during our visits to the theater in 2017. Well, the movie was not only a hit, but a massive hit, bringing in a total of $527 million before it finally left the big screen.

Hancock (2008)

Here’s something crazy to think about: Hancock, the 2008 Will Smith-led superhero movie made more money at the box office than Iron Man, the film that launched the MCU and changed Hollywood as we know it today. 

Kong: Skull Island (2017)

Not only was Kong: Skull Island the most successful movie in the Monsterverse, but it also performed really well at the box office back in early 2017. By the time everything was said and done, this monster movie made a staggering $569 million worldwide.

The Martian (2015)

We’re not knocking the movie, but Ridley Scott’s The Martian somehow won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the 73rd Golden Globes, which is crazy to think about. Know what else is crazy? Oh, just the fact that this 2015 Matt Damon movie made $631 million months before it received all those accolades.

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Thor: The Dark World is nowhere near the top of the ranking of best Marvel movies, and at one point it was seen as a failure or misstep for the young franchise. However, it still made $645 million worldwide. Sure, it’s not quite Avengers numbers, but this mops the floor with some of the later MCU films.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)

The first Venom movie made more than $850 million back in 2018. And while its sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, didn’t come close to touching that, its $506 million run is impressive considering several factors. The biggest of these is the fact that it came out in October 2021, a time in which theaters were still struggling to rebound after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Men In Black 3 (2012)

Men in Black 3 wasn’t necessarily a bad movie, but it’s wild to think that the third entry in the Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones franchise would be its most successful. Released in 2012, this sci-fi action comedy brought in an otherworldly $654 million in box office receipts.

Maleficent (2014)

2014 was a massive year at the box office with movies like Godzilla, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Interstellar bringing in bundles of cash and millions of moviegoers to screens around the world. Another addition to that list was the Angelina Jolie-led Maleficent, which earned $760 million worldwide, making it one of the biggest movies of all time.

The Da Vinci Code (2006)

The Da Vinci Code is a bad movie with one of the worst Tom Hanks hairdos of all time. However, Ron Howard’s 2006 adaptation of Dan Brown’s conspiracy thriller was a huge hit with audiences and made $760 million worldwide.

2012 (2009)

Roland Emmerich’s 2012 is one of the craziest disaster movies of all time, but it’s also one of the most successful, which is somehow hard to believe. Released in 2009, a time in which people still thought the world would end in 2012, this John Cusack-led thriller brought in an impressive $791 million worldwide.

The Secret Life Of Pets (2016)

This one is wild, but did you know The Secret Life of Pets made $876 million at the box office back in 2016? No, well, it actually happened and we can’t figure out a) how it happened and b) why we don’t recall its massive success. But with Illumination being behind the runaway hit, it shouldn’t be all that surprising.

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

A wildly inaccurate historical film or a biopic everyone needs to see depending on who you ask, Bohemian Rhapsody was one of the biggest movies of 2018. And while Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther dominated the box office conversation that year, let’s not forget that the Queen movie made $911 million before it left the big screen.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald (2018)

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald didn’t quite reach the heights of its predecessor or the more popular Harry Potter movies, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a success. In fact, the 2018 sequel made a cool $656 million in the weeks following its release, which is quite a feat.

Suicide Squad (2016)

David Ayer’s Suicide Squad has received a ton of crap over the years for not really making sense and feeling like multiple movies taped together instead of one cohesive film. And while we can go on and on about the 2016 DCEU movie’s shortcomings, the movie did happen to make $749 million at the box office. 

Beauty And The Beast (2017)

Not only did the 2017 live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast make more than $500 million at the box office, but it also crossed over into the $1 billion territory, which is quite surprising. All in all, the movie made $1.2 billion, which makes it one of the most successful films of all time.

Alice In Wonderland (2010)

Is Alice in Wonderland a good movie? No, not really. But did Tim Burton’s 2010 adaptation of the classic Lewis Carroll novel make a ton of cash? Yeah, by the boatloads. This wild, nonsensical, and nightmarish movie brought in more than $1 billion back in the day, which is mindboggling.

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is often considered not only one of the worst movies in the franchise but also one of Michael Bay’s worst films. However, this 2009 summer blockbuster made a mind-blowing $836 million at the box office, which was more than $100 million more than its predecessor.

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Though it didn’t make nearly as much as some of the earlier movies in the comic book franchise, X-Men: Apocalypse didn’t have a terrible run upon its release in 2016. In fact, the movie, which saw Oscar Isaac play a villain that looked a lot like a certain Power Rangers big bad, made a cool $544 million by the time it left theaters.

A lot can happen to a movie between the time a script is written and a premiere is held, and in some cases, a whole lot of bad can happen. Over the years, Best Picture winners, some of the greatest horror movies of all time, and cult classics have experienced nightmarish productions, with some being far worse than anyone could have ever imagined.

Come with us as we go through the history of Hollywood and break down 32 movies with disastrous productions that have since become the stuff of legend. And while we will be avoiding spoilers, some details are not for the faint of heart.

Twilight Zone: The Movie (1982)

Arguably the most infamous disastrous production, Twilight Zone: The Movie is mostly remembered for the on-set deaths of Vic Morrow and child actors Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, who were all killed in a freak accident involving a helicopter. Slate would later write extensively about the accident, what led to it, and how the segment’s director, John Landis, dealt with the ramifications.

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Though known as one of the best war movies ever made, Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam War epic is more times than not remembered for being one of the most intense, grueling, and disastrous productions. An overweight and ill-prepared Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen’s heart attack, and several other issues have since been well-documented in documentaries like Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse.

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)

The Island of Dr. Moreau is one of those movies that so many people wanted to work on, but it just wasn’t in the cards. The early dismissal of original director Richard Stanley (he was replaced by John Frankenheimer less than a week into shooting), Marlon Brando’s odd behavior, and Val Kilmer stepping in when Bruce Willis left shortly before production began all contributed to the madness on set.

Rust (Unreleased)

Who knows if the world will ever get to see Rust, as Joel Souza’s Western film has been wrapped up in all kinds of investigations, criminal trials, and litigation ever since a freak accident on set claimed the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021. According to the Los Angeles Times, star Alec Baldwin was practicing a shooting scene when his gun fired a live round, killing Hutchins and injuring Souza. Production has been suspended ever since.

Fitzcarraldo (1982)

Werner Herzog’s 1982 epic Fitzcarraldo tells the story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald (Klaus Kinski) as he attempts to transport a steamship through rivers and over a steep hill to find his fame and fortune. Herzog, not one to take the easy way out, decided that he and his crew would drag an actual 320-ton ship up a hill, as seen in the must-watch Les Blank documentary, Burden of Dreams. 

The Shining (1980)

In addition to having some great improvised movie moments, Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of The Shining also has a reputation for being a movie where the tyrannical director pushed and pushed and pushed his cast to their breaking point. Kubrick’s primary target, Shelley Duvall, had an especially hard time on set, according to The Mirror, and was left in poor health because of the intense and chaotic shoot.

Jaws (1975)

Steven Spielberg’s 1975 summer blockbuster, Jaws, had everything you’d want in a big movie: legendary acting performances, an all-time great John Williams score, and one of the scariest monsters captured on screen. As the director remembered in Spielberg: The First Ten Years (via Vanity Fair), a boat began to sink with the actors (and sound equipment) aboard, the shark didn’t work half the time, and the whole project went over budget. Still, it’s one of the greatest of all time.

Back To The Future (1984)

Back to the Future is remembered today as one of the best ‘80s movies and an iconic sci-fi flick that helped turn Michael J. Fox into the biggest actor on the planet. But before the Family Ties star came into the picture and brought Marty McFly to life, Eric Stoltz was famously cast and then fired weeks into the production. Though all of the McFly scenes were reshot, there’s still a single shot of Stoltz in the final cut. 

The Revenant (2015)

The Revenant, which earned Leonardo DiCaprio his first Oscar, experienced one of the most grueling and difficult productions in recent memory. Director Alejandro G. Inarritu insisted on shooting the film in order, which caused a myriad of issues along the way, including going over budget by the tune of $7 million, subjecting the cast and crew to extreme weather conditions, and having to move everything to a different continent to find cold enough weather.

The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

The Wizard of Oz is a movie that should get its own biographical drama series because so much drama happened on the set of the landmark 1939 film. From the production using asbestos to make fake snow to the alleged abuse and harassment on set to recastings and new directors, a lot went wrong in the process of making one of the most influential films of all time.

Star Wars (1977)

Star Wars (later retitled Episode IV – A New Hope) launched one of the biggest franchises of all time back in May 1977, but it wasn’t all peas and carrots on the set of the game-changing sci-fi epic. George Lucas and company battled all kinds of issues during the disastrous production including shooting in the deserts of Tunisia and Death Valley, budget problems, and droids that just wouldn’t work led to a series of headaches for all involved parties.

Cleopatra (1963)

Described by the A.V. Club as both an unmitigated disaster and runaway smash hit, Cleopatra is one of the most well-known movies of all time. Production of the epic starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton was stalled by unexploded World War II landmines, medical emergencies, and a ballooning budget.

Waterworld (1995)

A bad movie with a great plot, Kevin Costner’s Waterworld has a reputation for being one of the worst and most expensive box office failures of the ‘90s. According to Yahoo! Entertainment, Costner’s choice to ignore Steven Spielberg’s advice about shooting on open water was largely to blame for the movie’s massive budget and a plethora of issues experienced by the cast and crew on the set.

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

On top of being a wildly inaccurate biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody is also a film that was marred by on-set issues. A lot of the issues were connected to original director Bryan Singer, who was fired partway through production after numerous run-ins with the cast and outbursts on set. But the problems didn’t stop there, as the screenwriter later sued the film’s producers.

Titanic (1997)

James Cameron’s Titanic is one of the biggest movies of all time, as well as one that experienced one of the strangest incidents during production. As later covered by outlets like Variety, someone spiked the cast and crew’s clam chowder with PCP, which resulted in dozens of people flooding a local hospital suffering from all kinds of psychedelic and physical effects.

Blade Runner (1982)

Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is a top-tier sci-fi classic, but the director’s techno-noir film wasn’t without its fair share of incidents. From rewrites to missing deadlines to an insistence on adding narration by Harrison Ford, there was a lot that went wrong before the movie hit the big screen.

Heaven's Gate (1980)

Heaven’s Gate, the 1980 Michael Cimino movie and not the cult from the ‘90s, is often regarded as one of the worst and most disastrous movies of all time. Released a few years after Cimino’s iconic The Deer Hunter, the Western epic ended up coming in $30+ million over budget, many days late, and according to IndieWire, was so bad United Artists decided to shelve the film not long into its run.

The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)

The Bridge on the River Kwai, Davide Lean’s 1957 war epic is often regarded as one of the best World War II films, but it too, had its share of production issues. Among them were problems director David Lean had with the British actors and the botched filming of the iconic bridge explosion caused by a cameraman not getting out of the way in time.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Regarded as one of the best action movies of all time, Mad Max: Fury Road took the genre to new heights with its story about Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) and Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron). However, as reported by Vanity Fair, the two stars hated one another, which made things difficult on set.

Tombstone (1993)

One of the best Westerns ever made, Tombstone is one of those movies you just have to watch whenever it's on TV. But we’re lucky the movie was even made, as its production was the stuff of nightmares (at least for Hollywood). Kevin Jarre, the screenwriter and original director, was fired early in production and there have long been rumors that star Kurt Russell was his replacement, not George P. Cosmatos, who’s credited as the director.

The Crow (1994)

The Crow, which would go on to become one of the biggest cult classics of the ‘90s, will forever be known as the movie in which star Brandon Lee was tragically shot and killed during production. 

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote

Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, was long believed to be a movie that would never see the light of day. Over the course of nearly 30 years, multiple attempts, and countless casting replacements, Gilliam finally released the movie in 2018

Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

One of the most shocking movies of all time, Cannibal Holocaust has become a rite of passage in some circles due to its gratuitous violence and pure depravity. The found footage horror film, which features the decapitations of animals among other things, ended up getting its director, Ruggero Deodato, sent to court after people thought it was a real documentary.

Sorcerer (1977)

Riding high on the success of The French Connection and The Exorcist, William Friedkin took on one of his most ambitious projects: Sorcerer. The box office dud is mostly remembered all these years later for being the movie that sent at least 50 crew members to the hospital with ailments like gangrene and malaria, per Collider.

The Abyss (1989)

Though not the best James Cameron movie, The Abyss is still a great addition to the sci-fi genre and a wonderful alien movie. But know what wasn’t great? The film’s production. Cameron pushed things way too far for the cast, crew, and himself to the dangerous limits throughout the shoot, and, according to SyFy, he almost died on set.

Deliverance (1972)

Few movies capture a sense of dread and danger better than Deliverance, and it sounds like what happened behind the scenes was just as terrifying as anything featured in the 1972 thriller. Between Jon Voight almost dying performing a stunt, fistfights on set, and run-ins with the locals, a lot went wrong.

Alien 3 (1992)

David Fincher is one of the best directors in Hollywood, but the man behind Seven, Fight Club, and The Social Network had a bad start in the business thanks to the disastrous Alien 3. Fincher has been vocal about the production woes in the past, which could be attributed to a revolving door of creatives and a studio not knowing what it wanted.

World War Z (2013)

Have you ever watched World War Z and wondered why the final act of the 2013 Brad Pitt zombie movie feels like it has nothing in common with everything that led to that point? Well, that’s because the final third of the movie was completely rewritten and reshot.

Roar (1981)

Watch the Roar trailer and it shouldn’t take long to figure out why this 1981 cult classic is on the list. During the production of this wild creature feature, 70 crew members were injured by real-life lions, with some getting gangrene and puncture wounds.

American History X (1998)

It wasn’t so much the production of American History X that was the disaster as it was the post-production work. According to The Independent, director Tony Kaye, who was upset with New Line Cinema for making him recut and lengthen the film, ended up punching a wall and breaking his hand during the editing before going on a crusade to bad-mouth his film and having his name removed from the credits.

Tootsie (1982)

Going off an excerpt from David McGiffert’s The Best Seat in the House (via The Wrap), it sounds like Dustin Hoffman was just as difficult to work with as his character in Tootsie. In his book, the assistant director goes into great detail about the confrontations between Hoffman and director Sydney Pollack, which really adds to their characters’ scenes together.

Suicide Squad (2016)

Before all the Justice League brouhaha in the years that followed, the DCEU gave the world Suicide Squad, a movie pieced together by so many different parties it’s unnecessarily complex and hard to follow. Years later, director David Ayer still gets crap for the movie.

Some of these movies are cinematic masterpieces, while others have been largely forgotten to the sands of time. However, they all have something in common: they all had disastrous productions.

Growing a beard is easy for many people, but growing a really great looking one is not always so easy. When an actor grows a great bit of facial hair for a role, sometimes you just have to admire how much heavy lifting it does for the character. Like these 32 examples of great facial hair actors have grown for movies roles. 

Tom Hanks - Cast Away

Tom Hanks is usually clean-shaven in movies. Unless that movie is Cast Away when he grew one of the greatest beards in Hollywood history. It's easy to admire the commitment not just to the beard, but the wild, unkept nature of that amazing beard. It's truly a work of art in the sloppiest of ways. Sloppy in the best way. 

Hugh Jackman - Logan

The amount of work that Hugh Jackman has put in whenever he's starred as Wolverine in numerous movies is amazing. The beard is the easiest thing he has to do, given the shape he has to get himself in at the gym. But let's not discount how great the beard is in each out. It's sculpted just as much as his biceps. 

Kurt Russell - Tombstone

The great Kurt Russell has had some amazing facial hair over the years. The Hateful Eight comes to mind, and he's played Santa Claus. You have to say that his finest work came as Wyatt Earp in Tombstone. There may be no better facial hair movie than Tombstone and even then, Russell's amazing mustache is a stand-out. 

Robert Redford - Jeremiah Johnson

Robert Redford is another actor that, for the most part, stays pretty clean-shaven. Of course, in Jeremiah Johnson, he's goes way in the other direction with one of the greatest, bushiest, most meme-able beards ever. Of course, you can't hide the man's legendary good looks and the beard makes that so much more obvious. It's just spectacular. 

Harrison Ford - The Fugitive

Harrison Ford hasn't grown a beard for many roles, and you have to say his best was in the The Fugitive. It doesn't make it very far into the movie, as he shaves it when he escapes, but while he has it, it's a true beauty. It's a weird satisfying scene when he shaves it, too. 

Mark Hamill - Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker

In the original Star Wars trilogy Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) was still a baby-faced kid. For the the final trilogy, Luke is a grizzled, worn-down Jedi and has taken on a look much more like his mentor, Obi Wan, than his younger self. It's a shocking moment when he turns around and he's got that beard, but it's wonderful all the same. 

Wes Bentley - The Hunger Games

Seneca Crane's beard, grown by actor Wes Bentley, is truly a sculpted work of art. Citizens of The Capital in The Hunger Games have some wild styles and Crane's beard is a perfect example. It almost looks like CGI is so well barbered. You need an artist to shave you to get a look that good. 

Daniel-Day Lewis - Gangs Of New York

Everything about Bill The Butcher's (Daniel Day-Lewis) hair choices is interesting. The greasy, matted-down hair is a perfect match to the handlebar mustache. While many growing a handlebar would look like a clown, it only makes Bill more fearsome. Like, it's terrifying and yet looks so darn good. 

Bill Murray - The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

The great Bill Murray usually doesn't act with a beard, but you can't play an undersea explorer without a good-looking beard. As Steve Zissou in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Murray has one of the most dignified beards on this list. It's nothing over the top, it's just what you want from the character. 

Al Pacino - Serpico

Serpico's beard sounds like something Will Ferrell would say in an outtake for Anchorman, but really it's Al Pacino's beard as the character of the same name in the movie Serpico. It's a wonderful beard and one of the rare times Pacino has acted with one, especially a full beard. It's a beard that would make any man jealous. 

Tom Cruise - Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder is an outrageous movie, due in no small part to Tom Cruise relatively small part. His character as the jerk of all jerks is so amazing and his look is as outrageous as anything else in the movie. It's hilarious and disturbing, just like his character. 

Robert Pattinson - The Lighthouse

Robert Pattinson claims that he hates having to grow facial hair for a role, but he sure does it well. The Lighthouse is maybe the best example of this, as he sports an amazing mustache in that movie. Not everyone can grow something that beautiful, so he should be proud, even if it annoyed him. 

Joaquin Phoenix - I'm Still Here

Joaquin Phoenix went all in on his method acting for I'm Still Here, in which he played a fictionalized version of himself. For the "role," he grew out his beard to immense proportions that was reminiscent of Jim Morrison before his death. His bizarre appearance on David Letterman (in character) remains one of Phoenix's finest moments, as viewers didn't know if it was real or fake (and Phoenix might not of either). The beard played a big role. 

Leonardo DiCaprio - The Revenant

In addition to his immense acting ability, Leonardo DiCaprio's baby-faced good looks are part of what has made him such a bankable star for so long. He rarely looks less than his handsome best. In The Revenant, however, he went all out to look like a grizzled fur trapper in the 19th century. It's not his best look, but it is still very good. 

Remi Malik - Bohemian Rhapsody

Freddy Mercury had an all-time great mustache and to play him, Remi Malik just had to have one similar. It might even be better, but for argument's sake, we'll call it a tie. It's an amazing 'stache and really helped Malik bring the singer back to life. 

Joe Pantoliano - The Matrix

Joe Pantoliano's character in The Matrix is really well defined by the actor's facial hair. It looks cool, like a lot of the style choices in the movie, but it also feels like you can't trust him. The mistrust is, of course, well warranted when he betrays the rest of the crew. 

Sean Connery - The Hunt For Red October

Sean Connery has had some great facial hair over the years, though the role he is most famous for, James Bond, was always clean-shaven. For this list though, we had to choose just the classic beard he grew for The Hunt For Red October. It's exactly what you expect from a career naval officer from any country. 

Dustin Hoffman - Hook

If you're going to play Captain Hook, you better have a great mustache. Dustin Hoffman certainly does not disappoint in Hook. Sure, it's far from a perfect movie, but you can't say that about Hoffman's awesome curly-cue mustache. 

Henry Cavill - Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Yes, Henry Cavill's mustache in Mission: Impossible - Fallout is a really great bit of facial hair. That's not the only reason it's on this list though. The mustache is infamous because while filming the movie, the Superman actor had to switch gears and do re-shoots for Justice League. The producers of Fallout didn't want him to shave, so he did the reshoots with the 'stache, then it was CGI'd out. It's not a great CGI job either, though it must have been an almost impossible task, no pun intended. 

Will Ferrell - Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy

A great mustache was a must in 1970s TV newsrooms and in Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, Will Ferrell's is one of the best ever. There is nothing fancy about it, no handlebars or curly cues, but it is a true beauty. It's a mustache that evokes complete trust in what the talking head is telling his audience. Stay classy, Ron Burgundy. 

John Krasinski - A Quiet Place

The director and star of A Quiet Place, John Krasinski, is often seen sporting a beard these days, but before he filmed that movie, his most well-known parts were usually clean-shaven. It's nothing fancy, like others on this list, but it is impressive. Just a great, full beard that anyone would be proud to grow. 

Jeff Bridges - The Big Lebowksi

Later in his career, Jeff Bridges has had facial hair for a lot of roles, but early on, he was often clean-shaven. Arguably the best role of his career, The Dude in The Big Lebowski, has the perfect facial hair for the character. It's slightly unkempt with just enough grey to make The Dude look wise and world-weary, and, of course, lazy. And The Dude was most definitely a lazy man. 

Chris Hemsworth - Thor

The best part about Chris Hemsworth's beard, when he plays Thor, is that it just keeps getting better with each movie. It looks fuller and more impressive with every new movie and it's a beard that we've all become so accustomed to, it's weird to see the actor without it, though before playing Thor in the MCU, he was often without it. 

Sylvester Stallone - Rocky IV

Rocky is one of the most iconic characters in film history. Most of the time, the boxer is clean-shaven, so that makes the awesome training montage in Rocky IV that much better when he grows the beard. You can imagine being stuck in the cold Siberian winter, but you can't imagine it without a beard, right? Neither could Sylvester Stallone while playing Rocky. 

George Clooney - Syriana

George Clooney is an impossibly handsome man, and when he grows beards for roles, it only enhances that. It's literally impossible for the man to not look completely on point no matter what. Even his beards are perfect, as it is in Syriana. 

Alan Rickman - Die Hard

There is something so magical about a perfectly sculpted beard that doesn't look perfectly sculpted. Such is the case for Alan Rickman in Die Hard. He is the dapper terrorist, who looks good as he does evil. Rickman's performance is legendary, and the beard has to be included in that legacy. 

Viggo Mortensen - The Road

The Road is one of the most intense post-apocalypse movies ever made and anyone who survived the end of the world would certainly have a scruffy beard. Viggo Mortensen grew a beauty for the movie to play a father trying to survive with his son. It looks like he has shaved in weeks, or even slept much in that time. He certainly hasn't bathed in a while. It takes dedication to grow a beard that looks this rough. 

Mandy Patinkin - The Princess Bride

For Homeland, Mandy Patinkin grew a monster beard, but maybe his best facial work came with a much more subtle work of facial art. His mustache in The Princess Pride is truly wonderful. It evokes the great Douglas Fairbanks or Cary Grant with its classic look, perfect for the role. 

Gerard Butler - 300

Everything about Gerard Butler in 300 is over-the-top. His physique, his acting, his fighting, and, of course, his beard. It's as masculine as a beard can get. It's as tough as his character and you almost expect the beard to win the war. 

Robert Downey, Jr. - Iron Man

Iron Man/Tony Stark has become one of the most iconic movie characters of the 21st Century and the goatee that Robert Downey, Jr. sports is equally iconic at this point. It's the perfect facial hair choice for the ego-driven Tony Stark. It's good-looking and confident, just like Stark. It's also not completely trustworthy, yet reassuring. It a tough line to walk and the beard works. 

Samuel L. Jackson - Pulp Fiction

Everything about Samuel L. Jackson's hair choices in Pulp Fiction is amazing. The hair on his head is great, the hair on his cheeks is great, and the handlebar mustache is great. It's hard to imagine Jules Winfield looking any differently. It especially all works together with the black suit he's in for much of the movie. 

Kenneth Branagh - Agatha Christie Movies

This one is a bit of an honorable mention because Kenneth Branagh didn't actually grow this work of art that his character Hercule Poirot has. He tried, but couldn't. It's such an iconic part of the character in the Agatha Christie novels, that it had to be perfect. And it is. So it might be a prop, but it's too amazing not to include. 

Biopics are a tried and true genre, and one that can often capture the attention of the moviegoing public, as well as produce Oscar-winning successes. As such, there are almost always upcoming music biopics heading down the line, such as the Amy Winehouse movie Back to Black (see the trailer here) and Michael's take on the King of Pop. While many music-focused films of the sort have merit, there are ten titles that I think hold up as the best music biopics, ranked.

Bob Marley: One Love hit theaters early in 2024, doing solid numbers at the box office. Audiences love getting a clearer understanding of what makes legendary musical artists tick, and there have been some stellar biopics projects on this concept. Case in point: Timothée Chalamet's upcoming Bob Dylan movie, which will be titled A Complete Unknown. And without further ado, but with much further opinion, here are my picks for the best musical biopics, ranked.

10. La Vie en Rose

La Vie en Rose hit theaters back in 2007, and remains one of actress Marion Cotillard's most iconic performances (to say nothing of her infamous Batman role). She winningly portrays legendary French singer Édith Piaf in a movie which ping-pongs between the artist's early life and adulthood. 

This non-linear approach to Piaf's life helps to make La Vie en Rose such an effective and acclaimed project. For her performance, Coltillard received a bevy of nominations and awards, including the Best Actress Oscar. Although as you'll see from this list, she's not the only one who earned such accolades thanks to a musical biopic. 

9. Bohemian Rhapsody

There are few bands with as many hit songs as Queen, and its cultural impact has continued in the decades since lead singer Freddie Mercury's 1991 death. Bryan Singer's 2018 movie Bohemian Rhapsody tells the inspiring story of that beloved talent, with actor Rami Malek tasked with bringing the golden-throated legend to life. He pulled it off thanks to spot-on lip-syncing, as well as prosthetic teeth and (of course) that signature mustache. 

While Bohemian Rhapsody won a number of Oscars, its legacy is somewhat muddled. Audiences took umbrage with factual errors in the movie, with some claiming the critical acclaim was undeserved. Singer's role in the movie, following allegations of sexual misconduct, also put too large a magnifying glass on things. I really liked Rhapsody, although agree that Mercury's queerness was somewhat glazed over, which is a big reason why it failed to slot higher on this list. 

8. Get On Up

Get On Up is another musical biopic that received massive acclaim upon its release, and then inevitably failed to secure major award Nominations, like many of the others on this list. Directed by Tate Taylor, the 2014 film followed the tumultuous life of the legendary singer James Brown. 

Get On Up is a non-linear story, with the audience following Brown's stream of consciousness as he recalls his life. A big boon for the project is the performance given by late actor Chadwick Boseman, who offers a layered and fascinating take on James Brown, and deserves a ton of credit for why this biopic works so well. And following Boseman's death in 2020, Get On Up has been getting a ton of re-watches, as generations of fan mourn the loss of his talents. 

7. Behind the Candelabra

This choice might be somewhat unconventional, as the film in question didn't premiere in theaters. Instead, Behind the Candelabra was actually produced and released as an HBO original. The made-for-TV movie focuses on the life of legendary pianist Liberace, who was a wildly popular celebrity and TV personality amidst the '50s through the '70s. Michael Douglas plays Liberace himself, joined by Matt Damon as love interest Scott Thorson, with other big names helping to bring the story together, including Rob Lowe, Dan Aykroyd, and Debbie Reynolds in one of her final film roles. 

HBO has produced a number of outstanding original movies, and Behind the Candelabra is no exception. Douglas offers a nuanced look at Liberace that shows what a complicated man he was, and how hard it was to be queer just a few decades ago. Damon also crushes as Scott, becoming basically unrecognizable as his character goes through extensive plastic surgery. Luckily Max is producing original movies as well, so perhaps another musical biopic could be on the way. 

6. What's Love Got To Do With It

Angela Bassett is an outstanding actress, one whom many cinephiles complain still hasn't been given her first Academy Award. While this discourse includes her loss for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, in many ways that conversation began with What's Love To Do With It. The 1993 hit movie was a biopic about the legendary Tina Turner, with Bassett bringing the lead icon's ups and downs to the screen. Her performance was so captivating that she earned her first Academy Award nomination. 

And indeed, her work throughout What's Love Got To Do With It is remarkable, showcasing years of Turner's life and bringing all the charismatic ferocity that the late singer was known for. Additionally, Bassett brings a heartbreaking vulnerability to the role, especially where it relates to Tina and Ike Turner's infamous relationship. And it's because of this that What's Love Got to Do With It has been cemented as one of the best musical biopics of all time. Of course, credit also goes to her primary scene partner Laurence Fishburne, who portrayed Ike Turner in the classic film. 

5. Walk the Line

Walk The Line came out in 2005, and helped to create a new generation of Johnny Cash fans. Joaquin Phoenix portrays the legendary country singer-songwriter throughout decades of his life. Reese Witherspoon co-stars as June Carter, his love interest and eventual wife, and both members of this A-list pairing used their authentic singing voices, recording a full soundtrack of covers featuring beloved songs like "Ring Of Fire" and "Jackson."

Like many biopics, Cash's entire lifespan is touched on throughout Walk the Line, including his childhood and outlaw years, with an epilogue that reveals how he and June's life went down. The romance between these two country-western giants is a big reason why the film remains such a captivating audience experience, and when they finally get together, it comes only after years of tension, aching, and drama. And thanks to Witherspoon and Phoenix's endlessly watchable dynamic, it's a movie I can re-watch anytime it's available.

4. Straight Outta Compton

While many of the musical artists whose lives are were depicted in this list's other biopics are from back in the more distant day, Straight Outta Compton offers a more contemporary story, albeit still fully working as a period piece. The 2015 film's story focused on legendary hip hop group N.W.A, including icons like Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and more.

Directed by F. Gary Gray, Straight Outta Compton is an epic drama that offers a thrilling account of N.W.A.'s rise and fall in the 1980s, without shying away from the violence that was inherent to gangsta rap. The movie was universally acclaimed, with many critics and otherwise calling it among the best movies of the year, and Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff earned an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Straight Outta Compton inspired new fans of N.W.A., as well as countless memes and merchandise. And although the movie is one of the best biopics of all time, it also inspired a lawsuit from N.W.A.'s ex-agent.

3. Rocketman

Every so often, musical biopics are produced while the subjects are still alive, such as what happened with Dexter Fletcher's Rocketman, a jukebox musical that brought Elton John's life story to audiences with as much glitz and pizzazz as the entertainer's career. Starring Taron Egerton in the lead role, the 2019 movie was a box office success, a critical darling, and an awards season success mainstay.

A large reason why Rocketman ranked so high on this list is because the film is full of movie magic, and is colorful and raucous as its subject, which was a great choice by Fletcher and company. And while his partner David Furnish was a producer on the film, the narrative still didn't shy away from the struggles and complications that Elton John faced (and inspired) across his massive career. The movie is a great one, and seemed to galvanize audiences following Bohemian Rhapsody. 

2. Selena

When major films are created directly in the wake of a tragedy, they can sometimes provide a chance for the public to process their feelings. That was the case with 1997's Selena, which was released just two years after the beloved Tejano singer was shot and killed by Yolanda Saldívar. Made with the Quintanilla family's blessing, director Gregory Nava's acclaimed biopic tells the story of Selena's life and career.

Part of why Selena has had such staying power as years have gone by is thanks to the performance given by Jennifer Lopez. This cemented her as a bonafide movie star, and Selena remains one of JLo's best movies, helped along by co-stars such as Jackie Guerra and Edward James Olmos. And in the decades since the movie's release, it's remained a quotable part of pop culture that's consistently re-watched. 

1. Ray

While music biopics aren't guaranteed to make noise during awards seasons, this list obviously features a number of recognized projects, and Taylor Hackford's Ray is certainly in that category. The 2004 musical biopic was nominated for six categories, winning two, and it's easy to see why. Ray is a wildly moving jourey that peels back the layers on the life and career of the iconic Ray Charles. 

Obviously respect needs to be given to the movies' lead actor, as Ray is one of Jamie Foxx's greatest performances. He plays the piano, portrays Charles' disability, and even sings briefly in the film. Ray's supporting cast is similarly stellar, thanks to performances by Kerry Washington, Aunjanue Ellis, Terrance Howard, and Clifton Powell. The movie educates and entertains, and perfectly pays tribute to the late music legend who changed the industry forever. 

Movies based on true stories and real history have been staples in Hollywood since its earliest days. Getting the history incorrect has been a tradition as well. It’s important to note that just because a movie isn’t 100% true, doesn’t always mean it’s a bad movie. 

There are many reasons filmmakers may choose to omit facts or change the story for cinematic reasons, but it’s still important that those changes be noted. Other times though, those missing facts or changed moments ruin the film completely. 

Braveheart (1995)

Mel Gibson’s Braveheart is the king of historically inaccurate movies. Fans love the battle sequences, but those sequences are nowhere close to how they were in history. There are too many historical inaccuracies to note here, but one important one is the portrayal of the Battle of Stirling Bridge, in which there is no bridge in the movie. William Wallace used the river and the bridge brilliantly to win the battle, instead, audiences get a giant melee on an open field. 

Pearl Harbor (2001)

There are a lot of reasons to criticize 2001's Pearl Harbor, but for brevity’s sake, let’s just say that there was no one in history who was in the Battle of Britain, and at Pearl Harbor, and who took part in the Doolittle Raid, as Ben Afflect’s character did in the movie. It’s frankly insulting that they would make such a character, diminishing those who did participate in each event. On the other hand, it is about Pearl Harbor. Sort of. 

1492: Conquest Of Paradise (1992)

1492: Conquest Of Paradise is… not a good movie. It’s easy to go on and on about Christopher Columbus’ reputation, and how he is portrayed in the movie as a hero, but rather than do that, we’ll focus on one glaring historical mistake. No one with any kind of education in 1492 believed the world was flat. The idea that Columbus’ ideas were not widely accepted or even heretical is hogwash, like this movie. 

Tombstone (1993)

1993’s Tombstone is one of the best Westerns ever made. That doesn’t mean it’s historically accurate. The movie relies on the myth of Wyatt Earp more than fact. It makes for a doozy of a watch, but don’t go teaching it to kids about how life was in the Wild West. 

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Biopics are notorious for changing the facts to suit the story and the reputation of the people they portray. Bohemian Rhapsody is no exception, even though it deserved the awards it won. The worst moment for fans of Queen and those who know their history comes at the end of the movie. It ends with Queen’s epic performance at LiveAid, but that wasn’t the first time they’d played together in years as depicted, nor was Freddie Mercury aware that he had HIV/AIDS at the time. They crammed a lot in at the end. 

The Imitation Game (2014)

No one can watch The Imitation Game and call it a bad movie. No one, that is, except historians. There are numerous examples of a good story getting in the way of historical accuracy throughout the movie, from Alan Turing’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) personal life, to his personality quirks, indeed even to how he worked, and what he worked on, at Bletchley Park. Just for starters, he had a lot of friends and worked closely with everyone on his team. There are plenty of more examples, but we can leave it that for now. 

Cool Runnings (1993)

It seems a little silly to have a movie like Cool Runnings on this list, but despite being a really fun movie, it takes a lot of creative license. For one, the team was not shunned by the bobsled community, they were celebrated. They also were never in medal contention, as the movie implies. Finally, it was pressure from the whole bobsled world that got their appeal approved to even compete, not the work of one man, as depicted. Still, it’s a wonderful movie. 

Napoleon (2023)

Director Ridley Scott makes great movies, but historians love to jump all over the liberty he takes with the facts. Napoleon is no different, as many historians have come down hard on the film's inaccuracies. The criticism is something Scott simply doesn’t care about, and he strongly denounced those who called him out, telling them to, “Get a life.”

Argo (2012)

Argo is the perfect example of a great movie, that takes a lot of liberties with the actual history. The Best Picture Oscar winner tells the story of the CIA creating a fake movie as a cover to get hostages out of Iran. The problem with the movie is that most of the people involved, including President Jimmy Carter, say that the role of the Canadian government, especially Ambassador Ken Taylor, played by Victor Garber,  was greatly diminished in the movie and that they deserve most of the credit. 

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)

Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood isn’t supposed to be the “true” story of the Sharon Tate murder, but it’s still worth noting on this list. It’s presented honestly, as an alternate history where Tate is saved from the Manson Family, but obviously, that’s tragically not what happened. 

JFK (1991)

Oliver Stone’s 1991 epic JFK is a little tricky here. The movie famously focuses on Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) and his investigation into John Kennedy’s assassination. The investigation has been criticized as being mostly conspiracy theory, therefore making it fairly inaccurate. However, the movie is actually pretty accurate to Garrison’s investigation. So that makes it both accurate and inaccurate, a rarity here. 

Apocalypto (2006)

Mel Gibson’s directorial follow-up to The Passion of the Christ took him all the way to the other side of the world with Apocalypto. Set about 500 years ago during the Mayan Empire, Apocalypto is a fascinating movie, but many scholars have called it out it for unfairly portraying the Mayans as far more barbaric than in reality. While there were examples of human sacrifice in Mayan history, for example, it wasn’t as common as the film implies. 

Gladiator (2000)

Remember, historical inaccuracies don’t automatically make for poor movies and Gladiator is a perfect example. It’s a great movie, with amazing performances and set pieces. But it plays very fast and loose with the facts, including, most notably, Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) killing his father, Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris). 

U-571 (2000)

Few movies produce as much anger in historians than U-571. This is especially true of British scholars. Even then-Prime Minister Tony Blair declared the movie “an affront” to British sailors during World War II. Why? The entire plot of the movie revolves around Americans capturing the first German Enigma Machine in 1942. The problem? The Brits had captured one a full year before, months before the Americans even entered the war. Oops. 

Battle Of The Bulge (1965)

1965’s Battle of the Bulge, about the battle of the same in World War II is so historically inaccurate that Dwight Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander at the time of the actual battle, was described as “outraged” by the movie. I think that’s all we need to say. 

Dunkirk (2017)

Dunkirk is another tricky one here because most of the inaccuracies are because Christopher Nolan wanted to make a great movie, as well as tell a true story. The biggest problem most scholars have is a lack of soldiers on the beach. In reality, it was 10s of thousands of soldiers. Nolan didn’t want to use CGI, so the beaches look far less crowded than the reality. There is also the stunning scene at the end with the plane flying over the beach after running out of fuel, which is physically impossible. Still, it’s an amazing movie and much of it was very accurate. 

Gods And Generals (2003)

Among the most criticized films on this list is the 2003 Civil War epic Gods and Generals. The Southern Poverty Law Center said it “glorifies the Confederacy” and serves to further the “Lost Cause” narrative of neo-Confederates. Even the author of the book that the movie was based on denounced it. 

Mississippi Burning (1988)

This has to be the most heartbreaking movie to include on this list is Mississippi Burning. The incident it portrays is one of the most important moments of the Civil Rights movement when two Jewish and one Black civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi in 1964. It’s a critical story to be told. Yet, it was so fictionalized in the movie that many Civil Rights activists denounced and boycotted it. 

The Patriot (2000)

Roland Emmerich 2000’s film about the American Revolution, The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson as a widowed father of seven children who is reluctant to join the fight is so offensively inaccurate that even Gibson himself called it “sheer fantasy.”

Amadeus (1984)

1984’s Amadeus won eight Academy Awards, and for good reason, it’s fantastic. It’s not, however, a true story. It may be based on the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but very little of what happens in the movie happened in real life. It was meant to be a fantastical version of his life, sure, but it’s important to remember that often myths, like the ones this movie creates, become historical beliefs in the future. 

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Like Quentin Tarantino’s other movie, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, his Inglourious Basterds is presented as alternate history. Everyone knows that Adolf Hitler died in a bunker like a coward at the end of World War II, not in a gun battle in a theater, as the movie shows. That’s ok, there’s nothing dishonest about Tarantino’s presentation, but it’s still nowhere close to historically accurate. 

The Death of Stalin (2017)

Okay, so The Death of Stalin is a really tricky one. On one hand, it really does accurately portray the chaos and power-grabbing battle that happened with the high-ranking officials in the Communist Party in the Soviet Union after Stalin died. On the other hand, it’s a comedy and a farce, meant to be funny. It is, of course, hilarious and wonderful, but the characters are very different from how they were in real life. Still, a fantastic movie. 

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

A Beautiful Mind is fairly accurate in its portrayal of mental illness, as it shows the harrowing way that the film’s protagonist, John Nash (Russell Crowe), dealt with his schizophrenia. On the other hand, much of the events of Nash’s life are not accurate, or even fabricated. So this one gets a 50% in its accuracy. 

The Revenant (2015)

The Revenant, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is a story so wild that audiences would be forgiven for thinking the whole thing was made up. It’s not though, much of what is seen in the movie is true. It’s an insane story, which makes it all the more curious that the filmmakers would not be accurate with Hugh Glass’ private life, where there is no evidence he had a Pawnee wife or children, as the movie claims. 

The Untouchables (1987)

Sean Connery won an Academy Award for The Untouchables, and Robert De Niro’s performance as Al Capone is among the very best of his career. The movie is really fun to watch and is completely rewatchable. It’s not, however, historically accurate at all. Virtually every event in the film is complete fiction. 

300 (2006)

Okay, okay, we’ll obviously acknowledge that 300 is supposed to be a fictionalized version of history, but like other alternate histories, or whatever you want to call 300, it’s important to point out that King Xerxes was not an 8-foot-tall God in real life. We’re just saying. 

The Greatest Showman (2017)

While Hugh Jackman’s performance in The Greatest Showman is truly wonderful, very little about the character resembles the real-life P. T. Barnum. Barnum was cruel to his animals and many of his human performers. He was also a teetotaller, which Jackman’s character was not. A wonderful movie with terrible history.  

The Great Escape (1963)

1963’s The Great Escape is one of the greatest war movies of all time. It’s legendary reputation is based on the wonderful storytelling and great performances from a slew of Hollywood’s biggest stars of the day. While it’s based on a true story of Allied airmen breaking out of a POW camp, how it went down in real life bears little resemblance to how the movie shows. 

Elizabeth (1998)

Cate Blancett’s performance in Elizabeth from 1998 is great. Like, really great. The movie’s history, however, is a total mess. The timelines are totally off, many of the locations are wrong, and some events are totally made up. There’s more historically wrong than right in the movie. Still, it’s worth watching for Blancett. 

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

It’s impossible to imagine that 1998’s Elizabeth isn’t the most inaccurate movie about Queen Elizabeth I of England, and yet, its sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age, is actually an even worse offender. Cate Blanchett is wonderful, again, as she was in the first, but the plot of the movie is even less based on real history than the first. It’s completely frustrating and, unlike the original, completely forgettable, despite Blanchett. 

Captain Phillips (2013)

This is a movie we didn’t want to put on this list because it’s a white-knuckle adventure that is very much based on a true story. Still, it has to be on this list because the crew members of the Maersk Alabama, the ship captained by Capt. Phillips (Tom Hanks), insist the movie does not show how the real events really happened. It seems they disagree that Richard Phillips was not the hero he is portrayed as. 

The Green Berets (1968)

Leave it to John Wayne to make a pro-Vietnam War movie in 1968, at the height of the conflict. With war protests raging across America, Mr. Patriotism John Wayne stepped in to make a piece of pro-war propaganda that extolls the virtues of the US’s involvement in a civil war in Southeast Asia. It is inaccurate and doesn’t represent the mood of the country in any way. 

While many of the movies on this list are excellent movies and we don’t want to discourage you from watching and enjoying them, it’s always good to know how close to the real history they are. 

It's often said that biopics are nothing more than "Oscar bait" for the actors involved, but the great ones are so much better than that, and baiting Oscar for one doesn't always work, anyway. So whether you watch them for the history or the performances, here is a list of some of our favorite biopics. 

Golda

2023's Golda didn't get the best reviews when it was released, except for Helen Mirren's spectacular performance as the titular Golda Mier. Mirren is unrecognizable in the role, both due to the incredible work by the makeup department, and her acting. It also gives a good history lesson, which isn't always the case with biopics. 

Chaplin

Robert Downey, Jr. had an infamously rough decade in the 1990s, but it started with a bang, as he starred as the legendary Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin. Downey nailed the role, even learning how to play tennis left-handed for the part. It was the first real glimpse at Downey's range as an actor and it earned him a well-deserved Oscar nomination. 

What's Love Got To Do With It

The life of the late, great Tina Turner is one of heartbreak and triumph. The film based on it, What's Love Got To Do With It, succeeds in showing both sides. Angela Bassett's performance as Turner leaves audiences stunned as she just crushes every aspect of the role, from the hard-to-watch personal moments with Turner's ex-husband Ike, to those moments on stage where she was second to none. 

Amadeus

Amadeus, starring F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri and Tom Hulce as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is just a wonderful movie. Director Milos Foreman and the actors, playing rival composers in 18th century Austria were clearly having a good time filming this movie, but where it needs to be serious, it is. It's no surprise it won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Abraham. 

Gandhi

Winning eight Oscars is a good sign of a great movie, and Gandhi is an epic one. Ben Kingsley might be a controversial choice to play India's most important historical figure, but he just crushes the role, winning an Oscar for his portrayal of the celebrated pacifist. The film also won Best Picture and Best Director for Sir Richard Attenborough. 

I, Tonya

Anyone in Gen X knows the story of I, Tonya by heart. The names Tonya Harding, Nancy Kerrigan, Jeff Gillooly, and Shawn Eckardt are part of the cultural zeitgeist. Knowing the story doesn't make the movie less enjoyable, though. In fact, just the opposite. Learning Harding's story from the beginning brings new understanding and compassion for the figure skater at the center of the movie. Margot Robbie is fantastic as well, earning an Oscar nomination in the process. 

Malcolm X

Denzel Washington is powerful as Malcolm X in Spike Lee's Malcolm X. The film was a major cultural moment when it was released in 1992. Critics praised both Washington's performance and Lee's direction, and the film has gone a long way to present Malcolm X's full character and not just the firebrand he's most known as. 

Frida

Salma Hayak made a lot of believers out of audiences with her spot-on portrayal of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. It's fair to say Hayak wasn't given the respect she deserved as an actress before the film, but she would never be doubted after it. In fact, the whole cast is great. 

Milk

At the heart of Milk are the two amazing performances by Sean Penn (Harvey Milk) and Josh Brolin (as Milk's killer Dan White). If ever there was a person worthy of a biopic, it was Harvey Milk, the politician and gay activist who was murdered while serving in the local San Francisco government. His story was almost untold in society and this movie changed that. 

Priscilla

Sophia Coppola's 2023 biopic, Priscilla, about Priscilla Presley, is a rarity, in that it's about the woman behind the man. Her marriage to Elvis was always in the news, but rarely was it from any perspective other than his. Finally, fans were able to see it from Priscilla's side, and it makes the marriage all the more fascinating. 

Lawrence Of Arabia

Lawrence Of Arabia may play fast and loose with the facts regarding T.E. Lawrence's life, but there's no way to make a list like this without including one of the greatest movies of all time. Volumes have been written about the movie, so we'll just say, if you've never watched it, you should. All three hours and 38 minutes of it. You won't regret it. 

Raging Bull

What can one say about Robert De Niro's performance in Raging Bull? It's one of the greatest roles of all time. Of course, he won the Academy Award, and of course, it'll be remembered forever, but that doesn't even scratch the surface of how good it really is. He lost weight, he gained weight, and he did everything he could to make Jake LaMotta the role of a lifetime. 

Hidden Figures

Audiences get three for the price of one with 2016's Hidden Figures. The movie tells the little-known story of Katherine Goble Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) and the work they did for NASA.

Capote

Put simply, Philip Seymour Hoffman is brilliant in Capote. He captures the mannerisms and voice of the author perfectly and really, one could just watch B-roll of Hoffman in character and be mesmerized. The role earned him a well-deserved Oscar and the rest of the cast and the story itself are just as good. 

Rocketman

It's always a little hard to watch biopics of people who are still living and have lots and lots of actual film footage of themselves. Rocketman is one such case. Taron Egerton's award-winning performance as the legendary Elton John is still worth a watch, plus, the movie is just a ton of fun, even if it doesn't get all the facts correct. 

Elvis

Leave it to Baz Luhrmann to re-invent how to make a biopic. Elvis is like no other biography before it. Part musical, part music video, and part biography, the movie is, luckily, grounded in Austin Butler's fantastic performance as Elvis Presley. Even if Luhrmann's style isn't your bag, it's worth a watch for Butler alone. 

Erin Brockavich

Erin Brockovich is proof positive the subject of a biopic doesn't need to be famous. Julia Roberts is a powerhouse as the titular character in maybe the best performance of her career. 

Selena

Believe it or not, there was a time when Jennifer Lopez wasn't one of the biggest stars on the planet. In fact, it was 1997's Selena that really launched her career into superstardom. She's magnificent in the movie about the Tejano star who was tragically murdered at the height of her fame. Lopez is perfect in the role, playing a singer who dazzled her legions of fans, just like JLo herself does. 

Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian Rhapsody, about Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek) and Queen, isn't a perfect movie. It gets a lot of the facts wrong, and outside of Mercury, we don't learn much about the rest of the band. Still, Malek's performance is amazing, and it makes sense why they chose to end the movie with the legendary LiveAid performance, even if it meant changing some of the facts. 

Coal Miner's Daughter

1980's Coal Miner's Daughter has a stacked cast. Tommy Lee Jones, Levon Helm, and Beverly D'Angelo all put in great work here, but they are all outshined by Sissy Spacek in the lead role, playing country music legend Loretta Lynn. Based on Lynn's autobiography, it tells the story of how she rose from desperate poverty in rural Kentucky to the biggest stages in the world, and it's a wonderful, bittersweet, triumphant ride. 

Ray

Jamie Foxx is transcendent as Ray Charles in Ray. Foxx won all the awards. Literally all of them, becoming just the second actor to win the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, the Oscar, The SAG Award, and the Critics Choice Award for his performance. In a word, it's brilliant. It's rare for a performance of a person audiences are so familiar with, as they were with Charles, to work so well, but that's how good Foxx is. 

The Iron Lady

It's not hard to believe that Meryl Streep would put in one of her best performances playing a historical figure as she does with Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. For fans of political history, this movie is a much watch on either side of the Atlantic. Streep plays the former Prime Minister exactly how you'd want, with power and grace and even if you disagree with her politics, you can't deny her story is amazing. 

The Aviator

No one in Hollywood history has been better suited to play the mercurial Howard Hughes than Leonardo DiCaprio is, and he proves it in The Aviator. From young movie producer to a hot shot pilot to a mentally ill old man, DiCaprio hits all the right notes as Hughes through his life. 

Elizabeth

The biggest criticism of Elizabeth is that the historical facts are a jumbled-up mess and that's fair. The timeline is all over the place, for starters, but sometimes good storytelling requires a... re-imagining of events, as it were. Elizabeth is great storytelling, with Cate Blanchett playing the titular queen so well, we can look the other way a little bit here.  

Notorious

The best aspect of Notorious is not that it's about the Notorious B.I.G., but that it's more about Christopher Wallace, the man who would become Biggie. It's been rightfully praised for focusing more on the man behind the persona, than the persona itself. Jamal Woolard is great, as is the supporting cast, including Angela Bassett as Wallace's mother, and Anthony Mackie as Tupac Shakur. 

Gorillas In The Mist

Gorillas in the Mist is as triumphant and tragic as its subject's life. Dian Fossey, played by Sigourney Weaver, who won the Best Actress Oscar for the role, did more to save the gorillas in Rwanda than any other single person, and for that, she was likely murdered. Her murder remains an unsolved mystery, but there is no mystery as to why Gorillas in the Mist is worthy of this list.  

Judy

Like so many other films on this list, Judy is anchored by a career-defining performance by Renee Zellweger as the iconic Judy Garland. The film's structure is brilliant as well, allowing audiences into the tragic last year of Garland's life while celebrating all the great moments of her career when she was younger. 

The Doors

Val Kilmer completely transforms himself into Jim Morrison in The Doors. Watching the movie, audiences get lost in the performance, completely unable to separate the performer from his part. The rest of the cast, led by Meg Ryan, Kyle MacLachlan, Frank Whaley, and Kevin Dillon are also amazing, plus Crispin Glover's turn as Andy Warhol leaves one giddy. 

Walk The Line

Walk The Line is ostensively about Johnny Cash, but it's just as much about June Carter Cash as it is about her husband. Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix were both nominated for their roles, but only Witherspoon won, because as good as Phoenix is – and he's fantastic – Witherspoon is stone-cold brilliant. 

Jackie

Natalie Portman racked up the award nominations for her portrayal of Jackie Kennedy in Jackie and with good reason. Her performance features the highs and lows of Kennedy's life as first lady, and is wonderful. It would be so easy for this one to fall into a trap of knowing too much about the subject going in, and though we all do, the movie still works brilliantly. 

Patton

Even 80 or so years after World War II ended, General George S. Patton is still a controversial figure. Actor George C. Scott weaves a wonderful performance as the famous general in Patton, just as anyone would want. You understand why he was great, but you see all the flaws that made him so polarizing. It's a hard line to walk, but Scott does it well. 

Lincoln

When you watch a performance like Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln, it's easy to understand why the actor decided to retire. He so encompasses the role, it has to be completely exhausting, just as Abraham Lincoln was exhausted toward the end of the Civil War, as the movie shows. The film can be slow at times, but the history is spot on and the acting is amazing. 

Biopics are reliably great opportunities for actors to win awards, but that's not the only reason we love them, and these movies prove that they are more than just the performances. 

Easily one of the most legendary SNL stars of the 1990s is Mike Myers — the star and creator of numerous beloved SNL sketches, from “Wayne’s World” to “Coffee Talk.” However, you could say that his most unforgettable characters come from the big screen, like shag-a-delic spy Austin Powers or the titular ogre from the Shrek movies. Well, we decided to take a look at both Saturday Night Live and our favorite Mike Myers movies to find our picks for the comedian’s funniest quotes.

"A Nerd Says, 'What?'" - Saturday Night Live 

Cable access TV host Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) has used various iterations of this disorienting gag on his guests. In a 2011 edition of “Wayne’s World,” it’s at the expense of co-host, Garth Algar (Dana Carvey), after he explains an eyepatch does not actually make Jeff Bridges’ role in 2010’s True Grit “cycloptic.”

"That Must Be Lord Farquaad's Castle. Do You Think Maybe He's Compensating For Something?" - Shrek

What makes 2001’s Shrek a kids movie the whole family will love is jokes like this that adults can appreciate. Of course, what the titular ogre (Mike Myers) doesn’t realize at that time is that Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) makes his kingdom large to counteract his height. 

"Who Throws A Shoe? Honestly!" - Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery

One of Dr. Evil’s minions, Random Task, is a clear parody of Oddjob from one of the best James Bond movies, Goldfinger. While that villain’s signature gimmick was a throwable, razor-edged bowler hat, in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Random Task just throws his shoe.

"HEAD! MOVE!" - So I Married An Axe Murderer

One of the first times Mike Myers took on multiple characters in one title was in So I Married an Axe Murderer, in which he plays beat poet Charlie MacKenzie and his father, Stuart. In one of the darkly funny 1993 rom-com’s funniest moments, Stuart bluntly tells his younger son, William (Matt Doherty), to get his “huge noggin” out of the way of the TV, which sounds like “Heed! Move!” in his thick Scottish accent.

"We'll Just Take These Home, Run Them Over With A Fine Tooth Comb, Cross The ’T’s,’ And Dot The... Lower Case ‘J’s’ - Wayne's World 2 

When applying for a permit to put on “Waynestock,” Wayne and Garth are caught off guard when they meet a “partial ocular albino” played by Kevin Pollak in one of the best SNL movies, Wayne’s World 2. After several accidental comments about the office worker’s one white eye, Wayne finally catches himself from making yet another mistake with this smooth save.

"I'm Verklempt" - Saturday Night Live

The best kind of SNL character catchphrases are short and simple, much like that of “Coffee Talk” host Linda Richman (Mike Myers). This charmingly boisterous character never failed to get the audience roaring with laughter by the way she let them know she was suddenly overcome with emotion.

"For Five Minutes, Could You Not Be Yourself? FOR FIVE MINUTES!" - Shrek 2

Even after becoming friends, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) still finds a way to get under Shrek’s skin, such as when he can’t keep his mouth shut during their trip with Fiona (Cameron Diaz) to Far Far Away. The ogre’s plea is easily one of the most quotable lines of Shrek 2 and a fun way to tell a friend to can it in real life.

"I Once Thought I Had Mono For An Entire Year. It Turned Out I Was Just Really Bored" - Wayne's World

While on a date with Wayne, Cassandra (Tia Carrere) tells him that she has been so busy with her band that she almost thought her exasperation was caused by meningitis. Wayne responds by revealing that he went through a similar situation in one of Wayne’s World’s funniest lines.

“Basically, We Have All Our Rotten Eggs In One Basket. The Objective Of Operation Kino: Blow Up The Basket" - Inglourious Basterds

A nearly unrecognizable Mike Myers steals the show in a scene from one of Quentin Tarantino’s best movies, Inglorious Basterds, as General Ed Fenech opposite Michael Fassbender’s Lt. Archie Hicox. He uses this rather cheeky metaphor to explain that most high-ranking officials of the World War II-era German government are attending a propaganda film’s premiere, giving them a perfect opportunity to strike.

"Would You Like To Touch My Monkey?" - Saturday Night Live 

The most famous catchphrase uttered by Mike Myers’ recurring character, Dieter, may understandably sound like a double-entendre. However, the host of the West German talk show Sprockets is actually referring to his pet monkey, Klaus, when voicing this request to his guests.

"Believe Me, Donkey, If It Was Me, You'd Be Dead!" - Shrek 

As they grow closer reaching the tower where Fiona is held, Donkey catches whiff of something that he suspects is Shrek letting it rip. The ogre informs his companion that he is smelling brimstone after assuring him that his flatulence is deadly and, as we know from subsequent moments in the franchise, not very silent either.

"Yes, And It's The Choice Of A New Generation" - Wayne's World 

One of the most gut-busting moments from 1992’s Wayne World sees Wayne and Garth voicing their disapproval over product placement while, ironically, showing off various recognizable brands for the camera. One of the more clever examples occurs when Benjamin (Rob Lowe), tells them they could choose to play ball with sponsors or go back to cable access, prompting Wayne to quote Pepsi’s famous slogan at the time.

"No, I Think It's Repellent In Every Way. In fact, I Think Most Scottish Cuisine Is Based On A Dare" - So I Married An Axe Murderer

This is how Charlie responds when butcher shop employee Harriet asks if he actually likes haggis after buying some for his parents during an earlier visit. This biting So I Married an Axe Murderer joke is actually recycled from an SNL sketch starring Mike Myers and Kyle MacLachlan as the father-son owners of a Scottish delicacies shop.

"Everybody In The World Has 'Frampton Comes Alive!’ If You Lived In The Suburbs, You Were Issued It. It Came In The Mail With Samples Of Tide" - Wayne's World 2

In Wayne’s World 2, Cassandra shows Wayne a collection of records she bought at a yard sale, which includes Peter Frampton’s 1976 live album. Wayne is really not too far off from the truth when describing Frampton Comes Alive! as, essentially, a common household object considering its massive popularity at the time.

"Don't Look At My Bum" - Saturday Night Live

One of Mike Myers’ most charming recurring characters is Simon, an English child who hosts his own program from a bathtub. Sometimes, as he was reaching for another drawing to show off, he would accuse the audience of sneaking a peak at his rear end.

"No Stairway. Denied!" - Wayne's World

To those who first saw Wayne’s World on VHS or DVD, this gag seems to imply the guitar shop employee must have assumed Wayne was attempting to play to what really sounds like nothing like Led Zeppelin’s most famous hit. Per GQ, the actual first three notes of “Stairway to Heaven” could be heard in the theatrical cut, but the band and Warner Music Group “denied” the filmmakers from keeping the original audio from further home video releases.

“Well, Somebody Better Be Dying" - Shrek The Third

In Shrek the Third, this is how Shrek responds when he and Fiona are interrupted right as they are about to kiss. In the very next scene, his father-in-law, King Harold (another actor with sketch comedy experience, Monty Python’s John Cleese) announces that he is, indeed, dying.

"Well, That's The Kind Of Song Teenagers Can Crank Up The Volume In Their Car And Bang Their Heads To. 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Will Never Be That Song" - Bohemian Rhapsody 

In a memorable scene from the 2018 Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, this is how fictional record executive Ray Foster voices his preference for “I’m in Love with My Car” over the operative, eponymous track. Of course, the actor who plays him, Mike Myers, did, indeed, crank up the volume and bang his head in a car to this exact song in a famous scene from Wayne’s World that reinvigorated its popularity in the early ‘90s.

"Oh, Smashing. Groovy. Yay, Capitalism!" - Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery 

After Austin Powers (Mike Myers) awakens from a 30-year cryogenic slumber in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, he is at first bewildered to see a Russian general in his presence, until Basil Exposition (Michael York) tells him the Cold War ended. The spy initially assumes this means “capitalist pigs will pay for their crimes,” until Basil explains that things worked out in the United States’ favor.

“Let Me Get This Straight: You Pay This Woman To Sit On Babies? That's Disgusting. I'd Do It For Nothing" - The Cat In The Hat

The live-action, 2003 adaptation of The Cat in the Hat is not widely regarded as one of the best Dr. Seuss movies, but it does have its moments. Case in point: this cheeky little play on words courtesy of the titular feline (played by Mike Myers) and at the expense of Conrad (Spencer Breslin) and Sally’s (Dakota Fanning) babysitter, Mrs. Kwan (Amy Hill).

"If It's A Severed Head, I'm Going To Be Very Upset" - Wayne's World 

Wayne is approached by his “psycho hose beast” ex-girlfriend, Stacy (Twin Peaks cast member Lara Flynn Boyle), who is under the impression that she can wish him a happy anniversary two months after their breakup. Still, she insists Wayne open his gift, which he fears could be something very morbid, to say the least.

“Talk Amongst Yourselves. I’ll Give You A Topic: Rhode Island Is Neither A Road, Nor Is It An Island" - Saturday Night Live 

Any time Linda Richman gets “verklempt” and needs to take a moment, she offers the Coffee Talk audience a topic to discuss for the time being. Not only is this one of the funniest examples of the recurring gag, but also one of the more thought-provoking.

"Who Does Number Two Work For?" - Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery 

When Dr. Evil’s assassin, Patty O’Brien (Paul Dillon), attacks Austin Powers in a casino bathroom, the spy retaliates and takes the opportunity to interrogate the “cycloptic” gambler outside called Number Two (Robert Wagner). However, the “cowboy” in the nearby stall (played by Tom Arnold) assumes Austin is referring to a different kind of “number two.”

"I Can't Believe Paramount Is Spending The Money To Fly Us To England. I Would Have Thought They Would Just Use Two Doubles" - Wayne's World 2

Both of the Wayne’s World movies handle meta humor brilliantly, such as with this gag from the 1993 sequel. Wayne’s suspicions that the studio would not actually send him and Garth to the United Kingdom are proven correct, but only the audience is aware.

"I'm Afraid You're Gonna Ki- Leave Me"  So I Married An Axe Murderer 

In So I Married an Axe Murderer, Charlie (Mike Myers) breaks up with Harriet (Nancy Travis) and almost gives away that he fears she will kill him before replacing the word with “leave” as an explanation. However, it ends up sounding like he’s afraid she might “cleave,” which is exactly what he was worried about.

"No, Scott. I Have An Even better Idea. I'm Going To Place Him In An Easily Escapable Situation Involving An Overly Elaborate And Exotic Death" - Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery 

It really is amazing to think of how many James Bond villains could have succeeded if they just killed 007 on the spot instead of putting the skilled operative in unnecessary death traps. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery attacks this trope head-on when Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) reveals his plans for Powers, which his son, Scott (Seth Green), points out has flaws, to say the least.

"Yeah, And Monkeys Might Fly Out Of My Butt" - Saturday Night Live 

Few characters can master sarcasm quite as charmingly as Wayne Campbell. He has demonstrated this talent in just about every edition of his recurring SNL sketch with this hilarious bit.

"You Know, I Have One Simple Request, And That Is To Have Sharks With Frickin' Laser Beams Attached To Their Heads!" - Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery 

Probably the one thing that made Dr. Evil relatable was his interest in this odd combination of machine and beat that, admittedly, sounds pretty cool. He would finally get his wish in 2003’s Austin Powers in Goldmember when the newly wicked Scott presents his father with the long-desired gift.

"Oh, No No No No. Dead Broad Off The Table" - Shrek 

When Shrek finds a group of exiled fairytale creatures invading his swamp, he finds that the seven dwarfs have taken the initiative to put Snow White’s casket on his dining table. In their defense, the bed was taken by the Big Bad Wolf.

"Women: You Cannot Walk With Them, And Yet, You Cannot Club Them" - Saturday Night Live 

In a sketch called “Lothar of the Hill People,” Mike Myers plays the titular barbarian chieftain who converses with his brethren over their experiences and philosophies. One of the funniest instances of the recurring bit is when Lothar utters this unique take on an old adage.

"No One Gets Married At Your Age Unless They're Trying To Prove Something” - 54 

In 1998’s 54, Mike Myers plays Steve Rubell, the real-life co-owner of the famous, eponymous night club, Studio, who, at one point, comes on to Breckin Meyer’s character, Greg Randazzo with an indecent proposal. When Greg explains that he is, Steve insists that it can’t be genuine for a young man like him.

"Throw Me A Frickin' Bone Here!" - Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery 

When the freshly unfrozen Dr. Evil comes to his subordinates about his evil plans, he is soon informed that none of them apply to the way things are in 1997, prompting him to ask that they give him a break and try better to bring him up to speed. This line has since become one of the first things people quote when demonstrating their own impersonation of Austin Powers’ nemesis. 

These quotes are are undeniably groovy, baby.

The life of late legendary recording artist Whitney Houston was one of both amazing success and devastating setbacks. An unforgettable talent, she will always be known for her powerhouse vocals and iconic music video looks. Both take center stage in the upcoming movie I Wanna Dance With Somebody, as the story of Houston’s rise and fall is finally getting the biopic treatment.

Written by Bohemian Rhapsody’s Anthony McCarten and directed by Harriet’s Kasi Lemmons, the latest musical biopic to hit the scene stars Naomi Ackie, last seen in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, as the late great Whitney Houston. This first trailer, released by Sony to support their upcoming picture, shows brief glimpses of Houston’s life and looks, as we see her go from choir singer to full blown pop star. 

Along the way, we’re shown peeks at landmarks in Whitney Houston’s career.  I Wanna Dance With Somebody looks to be quite comprehensive. We even get see Ackie dressed in looks from the music videos to songs like the titular smash hit, as well as “It’s Not Right but It’s Okay.” The showstopping moment of the trailer is the recreation of the singer’s rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XXV; a performance so iconic, it was sold as a musical single and VHS. 

So far, Naomi Ackie looks to be sinking into the role of Whitney Houston. I Wanna Dance With Somebody’s star owns every second of screen time, especially when inhabiting those classic Whitney moments. That alone leads to the question of how much of Houston's acting career will be shown in the story. As some of Whitney Houston’s best movies like The Bodyguard and The Preacher’s Wife could be used to further tell her life story, we may see memorable moments from those films brought to life.

Another point that stands is how far I Wanna Dance With Somebody will dive into Whitney Houston’s personal troubles, or her tragic death in 2012. Neither seem to be hinted at in this first footage, and the involvement of a key player from Bohemian Rhapsody might worry some audience members about how, or if, those points will be handled.

Though it was an Academy Award winning smash hit, the 2018 biopic has been criticized as overly sanitized Freddie Mercury’s personal story; a claim that even actor Rami Malek could understand. So much so that when one of that film’s producers attached themselves to an in-development Michael Jackson biopic, there was an explicit promise to avoid a “sanitized rendering.”

I Wanna Dance With Somebody may not be as wild as other 2022 musical biopics, such as the predictably bonkers work of Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, but it doesn't look like it'll be afraid to break some hearts. There’s still some time for the world to speculate about what exactly we'll get from this movie, as it's set to open in theaters on December 21st.

The way that Elvis co-star Tom Hanks described it when appearing on CinemaBlend’s official podcast ReelBlend, Austin Butler essentially is playing Jesus, in a movie titled Jesus. The full focus falls on Butler as he attempts to play The King for Baz Luhrmann’s rewarding biopic Elvis, now in theaters. And while the movie has earned incredibly valuable praise from the Presley family regarding his performance (really, it’s the best review he could have gotten), the actor admits to being very nervous while diving into specific scenes during the production, and they involve his need to sing live in front of an audience. 

One of the coolest aspects of Elvis is that Baz Luhrmann stages actual concerts that signify the different stages of Elvis Presley’s career. They begin around Memphis, when the upstart singer was dragging himself away from screaming female fans. They continue through a major, televised Christmas concert (that ruffled the singer’s feathers), and ends up in Las Vegas in the fading days of the star’s career. Butler ended up hospitalized after filming wrapped, but that had nothing to do with his fears, which came from singing. During press days for Elvis, Butler told CinemaBlend that to get over their fears, he leaned on a very famous friend, explaining:

Austin Butler learned from Rami Malek’s experience playing Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. There were stories that Malek insisted the Live Aid scene for that movie be filmed in one take, which definitely contributed to the overall energy of the sequence. And a similar approach helps Butler command the screen in Elvis. He talks in our interview above about how the girls in the audience gave him so much emotion to play off of while filming the singing scenes in Elvis, so that if they were swooning or screaming or crying, it helped add to the atmosphere of the scene… as Rami Malek no doubt could have told him. 

Of course, Rami Malek went on to win the Oscar for playing Freddie Mercury on the screen, and many have similar hopes for Butler. He definitely stood out in CinemaBlend’s review of the film, and Oscar analysts are already making statements about penciling Butler’s name onto the Oscar ballot for next year. We shall see how that all pans out, but of Butler thanks Rami Malek from the stage at the Oscars, now you know why. 

There are few fans quite as passionate as those that are dedicated to Star Wars. For better or worse they tend to be quite dedicated to being Star Wars fans and while that can result in some quite heated arguments over the state of Star Wars today, we also see them come together in a shared love for the galaxy, far, far away. We saw that with the recent Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, and now we’re seeing it in a viral clip of fans singing Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” together.

Following the recent Star Wars celebration there was an afterparty event called Mosh Eisley, that saw fans come together at a local bar for one last hurrah. Lucasfilm Story Group member Matt Martin, who has been involved in everything from the Galactic Starcruiser to video games and books, recently posted a clip of the event to Twitter, which includes the audience singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” together like something out of Wayne’s World. The whole thing is just incredible. Check it out. 

As Matt Martin says, this fandom is quite weird. It’s certainly not everyday that you see a dark room full of lightsabers that includes a group performance of “Bohemian Rhapsody.” At the same time, when the song starts playing, it’s difficult not to get wrapped up and start singing along.  A few fans responded to the initial tweet with their own videos of the same event and you can tell literally everybody is just rocking out to Queen.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” is one of those songs that just lends itself well to group singing. There’s a reason the scene from Wayne’s World is the most iconic part of that whole movie. And group singing is nice because that way even those of us who can’t sing can have fun as the collective voices always sound good.

Fandoms can so often get toxic and obnoxious, just ask Game of Thrones,  that it’s cool to see moments like this because it reminds you why people got into things like this in the first place. When fandoms get out of control and people start to get angry about a movie they didn’t like or a character that does something they don’t approve of, you can start to wonder why you started to become a devoted fan in the first place. “Bohemian Rhapsody” may have little to do with Star Wars but it’s a song that most people love and they get to share that joy in it together. It’s why events like Star Wars Celebration happen. 

There are darker parts of any fandom. Star Wars itself has been dealing with racist backlash against one actress recently, but we know that’s not all there is. Fans of Star Wars, and all other things Disney, will come together once again later this year when the D23 Expo gets underway. Hopefully we’ll see more moments like this, where fans come together and celebrate what they love among others who feel the same way.  

Over time, a name that I’ve been seeing a lot more often in both movies and television is Rami Malek. From some of his first roles in film to his starring parts in huge hit TV shows, Malek has constantly proven how skilled of an actor he is. And if you’ve been wondering where to watch some of his best roles, you’re in exactly the right place. While there are some awesome things to know about Rami Malek, we’re here to talk about some of his best films. 

If you’ve been on the lookout for the best Rami Malek movies and TV shows that are streaming or available to rent right now, this is the place for you, starting off with a huge hit of his. 

Mr. Robot (2015 - 2019)

You knew this one would be on the list. Mr. Robot is an awesome drama show telling the story of Elliot, a seemingly normal programmer who works as a cybersecurity engineer during the day, but at night, he turns into a hacker, acting as a vigilante to takedown a major corporation. 

While Rami Malek worked prior to taking on the lead role in Mr. Robot, this was his breakout performance. His performance Elliot was well-loved and Malek received several accolades and nominations, showing just how amazing of an actor he truly is. It’s a shame the show had to come to an end, but all good things do, and i don’t think we’ll ever quite forget our favorite hacker. 

Stream Mr. Robot on Amazon Prime.

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Freddie Mercury was one of my idols growing up, and Rami Malek was stellar as him in Bohemian Rhapsody. This biopic tells the story of Freddie Mercury and the band Queen, them becoming hitmakers overnight and him turning into the icon that he is now, as well as his personal struggles to get there. 

Rami Malek actually won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Bohemian Rhapsody, so if that wasn’t enough to get you to watch this film, I don’t know what is. He perfectly captures the essence that was Freddie Mercury and adds even more personality to the already iconic man. Truly, Rami Malek was amazing in this role. 

Rent Bohemian Rhapsody on Amazon.

The Pacific (2010)

Next up, we have the miniseries, The Pacific, from HBO. This series based on the true stories of soldiers in WWII follows the U.S. Marines who were fighting against the Japanese during WWII, capturing their lives, struggles, and so much more. 

For those who don’t know, HBO has made some really awesome shows, some of which include stories of WWII, including the legendary Band of Brothers that acts as a predecessor to this miniseries. Rami Malek was the perfect pick to play Cpl. Merriell “Snafu” Shelton, a character based on a real-life Marine, and Malek does him justice with his excellent acting performance alongside his co-stars. If realistic war movies and movies about real-life situations are some of your favorite genres, you need to give this a shot, especially if you’re a fan of Malek, as he stands out amongst the rest. 

Stream The Pacific on HBO Max.

Night At The Museum Trilogy (2006-2014)

Ever wonder what would happen if a museum came to life at night? That’s what Night at the Museum is all about, mainly following the adventures of Larry Daley (played by Ben Stiller), a night shift security guard who ends up discovering that the American Museum of Natural History in New York comes to life at night. 

Fun fact - the first Night at the Museum was actually Rami Malek’s first film ever, and what a movie to start out on, because he is great as Ahkmenrah, the owner of the tablet that allows the exhibits to come to life. I can’t get over how funny he is and his chemistry with Ben Stiller is super. While the film series is only a trilogy, Malek makes an appearance in each one, and further proves my hypothesis that he would make a great ancient pharaoh.

Stream The Night At The Museum Trilogy on Disney+.
Rent The Night At The Museum Trilogy on Amazon.

The Little Things (2021)

Next up, we have The Little Things. In this neo-noir crime film, Rami Malek stars as a detective alongside Denzel Washington, who are both on the case as a string of murders starts to connect to each other - all of which lead to them meeting a person that just might be the problem. 

What really makes The Little Things one of Malek’s best movies is his chemistry with Denzel Washington. I love re-watching their scenes as detectives because you really believe that they’re actively trying to solve a case and show just how hard they are working. Even so, The Little Things is filled with great surprises, and you’ll find yourself twisting your head often just to keep up with all the changes in plot, making it a fun time. 

Stream The Little Things on HBO Max.
Rent The Little Things on Amazon.

No Time To Die (2021)

I’m sure at some point in 2021 you heard of Daniel Craig’s last James Bond film, No Time To Die. In this film, we follow Bond, who is attempting to live out a normal life after retiring from MI6. But that retirement comes to a close when a former contact reaches out to him for help, pushing him back into the life of an international spy. 

Rami Malek played a Bond villain in No Time To Die, Lyutsifer Safin, who is a terrorist and trying to get revenge on Spectre, and honestly, he plays the villain really well. Like, scarily well. Watching him in this Bond film makes me wonder why Malek doesn’t play more villains, because he surprisingly pulls it off and had some really amazing scenes with Craig. Rami Malek might have fallen in love with his Bond villain, but I think I have, too. Someone help me. 

Rent No Time To Die on Amazon.

BoJack Horseman (2017-2018)

I bet you didn’t think you’d see a voice role on here. BoJack Horseman is an iconic adult animated series on Netflix, telling the story of the titular character who is trying to get back into the limelight after several years in obscurity by writing a tell-all novel using a ghost writer. 

While Rami Malek has done voiceover work (as well as motion capture work) for video games before, like Until Dawn and The Legend of Korra, I wanted to point out his role as Flip McVicker, as I feel that’s some of his best voiceover work. His portrayal of the insecure yet pretentious creator of Philbert and the way he clashes with BoJack really makes the show during Seasons 4 and 5. I wish we had gotten to see more of him. 

Stream BoJack Horseman on Netflix.

Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus (2014)

Next up, we have Da Sweet Blood of Jesus. This Spike Lee film tells the story of an anthropologist whose life changes when he is suddenly stabbed by a dagger, which turns out to be a magical weapon from ancient Africa that turns him into a terrifying creature - a vampire. 

I know, the premise itself sounds like any old vampire film, but I have to say that Da Sweet Blood of Jesus is unique in every way. From how vampires work to the ending, that shows Rami Malek giving a compelling performance as Seneschal Higginbottom, working as a servant and having some really awesome scenes alongside Stephen Tyrion Williams as Dr. Green. It’s not your typical vampire film, but thanks to the brilliant acting from both Malek and his co-stars, it’s an intriguing entree into the fantasy genre. 

Stream Da Sweet Blood of Jesus on Showtime.
Rent Da Sweet Blood of Jesus on Apple TV.

Papillon (2017)

Last but not least, we have Papillon. This biographical drama starring Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek follows the true story of French convict Henri Charrière - who was called Papillon, and escaped with fellow convict, Louis Dega, from Devil’s Island in the 1940s. 

The movie itself is really great, with a lot of thrilling action moments. But, what makes this movie one of Rami Malek’s best is his overall performance as Louis Dega, as well as his partnership with Charlie Hunnam as Henri Charrière. They truly make such an outstanding duo.

Stream Papillon on Hulu.
Rent Papillon on Amazon.

Rami Malek is only going to continue to give us intriguing roles, considering he already has two films set to come out - one called Amsterdam, and the other is Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, so you’re sure to see more of him. Until those release, enjoy some of his best films and TV shows now - you might just find a new favorite re-watch.  

Biopics are a tried and true genre in the film world, usually resulting in Awards Season attention. Case in point: 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody, which told the story of Queen icon Freddie Mercury. Rami Malek ultimately won an Academy Award for his performance, but he wasn’t the only actor who auditioned for the role. Now Queen’s Roger Taylor has slammed actor Sacha Baron Cohen years after he almost landed the role of Freddie in the movie.

Roger Taylor is the acclaimed drummer of Queen, who was played by actor Ben Hardy in Bohemian Rhapsody. The award winning biopic clearly meant a great deal to members of the band, and those who knew Freddie Mercury in his life. And it seems he wouldn’t have been happy if Borat actor Sacha Baron Cohen landed the role over Rami Malek. As she recently shared,

Shots fired. It seems that Roger Taylor doesn’t appreciate the talents of Sacha Baron Cohen, who was seen in serious acting roles like The Trial of the Chicago Seven. In fact, he thinks the 50 year-old Oscar nominee is “utter shit” as a performer, and wouldn’t have gone well in Bohemian Rhapsody. Tell us how you really feel, Roger.

Roger Taylor’s comments to Metro UK are sure to turn a few heads, despite Bohemian Rhapsody arriving in theaters a few years ago. While Rami Malek put a ton of heart (and teeth) into his performance as Freddie Mercury, it was a coveted role that other actors would have killed for. That includes Sacha Baron Cohen, who was originally attached to the role when the movie was developing back in 2010. The Borat icon would eventually depart due to creative differences, making room for Malek to take on the mantle… and eventually an Academy Award.

While Queen’s Brian May reportedly approved of Sacha Baron Cohen’s casting at the time, it’s clear that the rest of the band didn’t quite agree. Roger Taylor doesn’t seem to think he’s a very strong factor, despite his years of experience. One can only imagine how different Bohemian Rhapsody might have been with a different leading actor.

Rami Malek’s performance in Bohemian Rhapsody was acclaimed, but there’s one way Sacha Baron Cohen might have had an advantage over the No Time to Die star. Namely because Cohen has a strong singing voice, as proven from performances in Sweeney Todd and Les Miserables. By comparison, Malek lip synched throughout his performance as Freddie Mercury. Regardless, that’s what Roger Taylor seems to prefer.

Bohemian Rhapsody is available to own now, with some fans hoping a sequel happens. Be sure to check out the 2021 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

Bohemian Rhapsody, the story of Freddie Mercury and Queen, was a massive hit of a movie back in 2018. It grossed over $900 million worldwide and was nominated for five Oscars, winning four of them, including Best Actor for lead Rami Malek. However, the movie’s smashing success has not rubbed off on screenwriter Anthony McCarten, who has apparently never received the back end money he negotiated for, and that has now led to a lawsuit.

Anthony McCarten says he had a deal with Bohemian Rhapsody producer Graham King and studio GK Films that would have seen him receive 5% of the profit that GK received from the movie. However, he has yet to receive any money at all from the deal. And according to him, he’s never received any reply when he has attempted to communicate on this issue, ultimately resulting in the lawsuit. 

Part of the problem looks to stem from an issue of what is termed “Hollywood accounting.”  Deadline reports that, although the movie made $911 million globally, 20th Century Fox, the studio that distributed the film, has reported that Bohemian Rhapsody has actually lost $51 million to date. Fox is apparently basing whatever profit Anthony McCarten might receive on its term “defined net profits,” which is different than what GK Films standard definition of “net profits” is. However, the lawsuit claims GK had no definition of “net profits” and had no interest in creating one, as there was never any attention of properly computing what the net profits were.

At this point Fox, and Disney, who has since acquired the company as well as the Bohemian Rhapsody movie, is not a party to the lawsuit as Anthony McCarten’s deal was specifically with GK Films. However, GK Films believes Disney should be part of the suit, and tells Deadline they will be working with Fox/Disney on future responses to this suit.

This certainly isn’t the first case where the definition of net profits has been a topic at issue. We’ve seen it happen more than once where movies that made hundreds of millions of dollars are shown on the balance sheet as having lost money. While certainly there is more to the cost of making movies than the production budget, and even that can be difficult to get a handle on, it can be hard to believe that a movie that made nearly $1 billion at the global box office wasn’t profitable.

But even if there is agreement that a movie made money, when your deal is for a percentage of those profits, just how profitable the movie truly was is a second important question. If this case actually goes to trial we might get some real insight into how Hollywood accounting truly works.  

The months march on, and at this point we've crossed the halfway mark of the year that is 2021. So of course, it’s time to celebrate what we’ll be experiencing on the back half of the year, as Hulu has all sorts of movies and TV being added to its ever growing selection. July 2021 is particularly exciting, especially when you've got movies like Bill and Ted Face the Music and Bohemian Rhapsody on the way, as well as a huge special that will see The Jonas Brothers going for Olympic gold. If you want to take a quick moment to look at June 2021's lineup, you'll find that handy below; otherwise let's see what July will bring to the Hulu streaming library.

Premiering On Hulu - Week Of July 1

The Mighty Ones: Complete Season 2 (Hulu Original) - 7/1/21

RuPaul's Drag Race: Complete Season 7 (MTV) - 7/1/21

127 Hours (2010) - 7/1/21

28 Days Later (2003) - 7/1/21

28 Weeks Later (2007) - 7/1/21

68 Kill (2017) - 7/1/21

78/52: Hitchcock's Shower Scene (2017) - 7/1/21

A Ciambra (2018) - 7/1/21

The Adventures of Hercules (1985) - 7/1/21

Almost Human (2014) - 7/1/21

Alpha & Omega: Legend Of The Saw Toothed (2014) - 7/1/21

American Gun (2005) - 7/1/21

An Acceptable Loss (2019) - 7/1/21

Australia (2008) - 7/1/21

Bad Teacher (2011) - 7/1/21

Band Aid (2017) - 7/1/21

Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest (2011) - 7/1/21

Beetlejuice (1988) - 7/1/21

The Best Man (1999) - 7/1/21

Better Living Through Chemistry (2014) - 7/1/21

Big Fish (2003) - 7/1/21

Bitter Harvest (2017) - 7/1/21

Blue Sky (1994) - 7/1/21

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) - 7/1/21

Breakdown (1997) - 7/1/21

Bruno (2009) - 7/1/21

Caddyshack (1980) - 7/1/21

Caddyshack II (1988) - 7/1/21

Candyman 3: Day of the Dead (1999) - 7/1/21

Carnage Park (2016) - 7/1/21

Caveman (1981) - 7/1/21

Chaplin (1992) - 7/1/21

Chuck (2017) - 7/1/21

The Chumscrubber (2005) - 7/1/21

Citizen Jane: Battle for the City (2017) - 7/1/21

Cliffhanger (1993) - 7/1/21

The Condemned (2007) - 7/1/21

Confessions Of A Shopaholic (2009) - 7/1/21

The Conversation (1974) - 7/1/21

Coyote Ugly (2000) - 7/1/21

The Cured (2018) - 7/1/21

Dangerous Minds (1995) - 7/1/21

Dealin' With Idiots (2013) - 7/1/21

Dealt (2017) - 7/1/21

Dear White People (2014) - 7/1/21

Donnybrook (2019) - 7/1/21

Dumb & Dumber (1994) - 7/1/21

Dumb And Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd (2003) - 7/1/21

Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me (2014) - 7/1/21

Eliminators (2016) - 7/1/21

Enemy at the Gates (2001) - 7/1/21

The Face of Love (2014) - 7/1/21

Factotum (2006) - 7/1/21

Fargo (1996) - 7/1/21

The Feels (2017) - 7/1/21

Fired Up! (2009) - 7/1/21

Foxfire (1996) - 7/1/21

Frank Serpico (2017) - 7/1/21

Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) - 7/1/21

Free To Run (2016) - 7/1/21

From Paris with Love (2010) - 7/1/21

Galaxy Quest (1999) - 7/1/21

The Gift (2000) - 7/1/21

Gimme the Loot (2013) - 7/1/21

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) - 7/1/21

Gorp (1980) - 7/1/21

Graduation (2017) - 7/1/21

Grandma (2015) - 7/1/21

Hellions (2015) - 7/1/21

Hideaway (1995) - 7/1/21

House of the Dead (2003) - 7/1/21

House of the Dead 2 (2006) - 7/1/21

The House That Jack Built (2018) - 7/1/21

Housesitter (1992) - 7/1/21

I Daniel Blake (2017) - 7/1/21

I Do...Until I Don't (2017) - 7/1/21

I Remember You (2017) - 7/1/21

Ice Age (2002) - 7/1/21

In The Cut (2003) - 7/1/21

Indignation (2016) - 7/1/21

Intermission (2004) - 7/1/21

Intolerable Cruelty (2003) - 7/1/21

Johnny English (2003) - 7/1/21

Knowing (2009) - 7/1/21

The Ladies Man (2000) - 7/1/21

Last Days Here (2012) - 7/1/21

Let's Be Evil (2016) - 7/1/21

Manic (2013) - 7/1/21

The Mask (1994) - 7/1/21

Maximum Risk (1996) - 7/1/21

Mercury Rising (1998) - 7/1/21

Morning Glory (2010) - 7/1/21

Mystic Pizza (1988) - 7/1/21

The Natural (1984) - 7/1/21

Ode to Joy (2019) - 7/1/21

Open Range (2003) - 7/1/21

Open Water (2004) - 7/1/21

Open Water 2: Adrift (2006) - 7/1/21

Passage to Mars (2017) - 7/1/21

Personal Shopper (2017) - 7/1/21

The Polar Express (2004) - 7/1/21

Rabid Dogs (2016) - 7/1/21

Rebel in the Rye (2017) - 7/1/21

Reno 911!: Miami : The Movie (2007) - 7/1/21

Revolutionary Road (2008) - 7/1/21

Robocop (1987) - 7/1/21

Robocop 2 (1990) - 7/1/21

Robocop 3 (1993) - 7/1/21

Rookie of the Year (1993) - 7/1/21

Seabiscuit (2003) - 7/1/21

Shelley (2016) - 7/1/21

Sightseers (2013) - 7/1/21

Sleeping With The Enemy (1991) - 7/1/21

Sleepwalkers (1992) - 7/1/21

Soldier Boyz (1995) - 7/1/21

Something's Gotta Give (2003) - 7/1/21

Somewhere (2010) - 7/1/21

Sorority Row (2009) - 7/1/21

Space Jam (1996) - 7/1/21

Stand by Me (1986) - 7/1/21

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) - 7/1/21

Star Trek: First Contact (1996) - 7/1/21

Stephen King's Graveyard Shift (1990) - 7/1/21

The Stepfather (2009) - 7/1/21

Stonewall (2015) - 7/1/21

Stray (2020) - 7/1/21

Sunshine (2005) - 7/1/21

Super Troopers (2002) - 7/1/21

Sweet Virginia (2017) - 7/1/21

Taffin (1988) - 7/1/21

Take Every Wave (2017) - 7/1/21

Take Shelter (2011) - 7/1/21

Taken (2009) - 7/1/21

The Terminator (1984) - 7/1/21

They Came Together (2014) - 7/1/21

Thunderheart (1992) - 7/1/21

Timeline (2003) - 7/1/21

Tooth Fairy (2008) - 7/1/21

Twisted (2004) - 7/1/21

Underworld (2003) - 7/1/21

Underworld Awakening (2012) - 7/1/21

Underworld Evolution (2006) - 7/1/21

Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans (2009) - 7/1/21

Universal Soldier (1992) - 7/1/21

The Unknown Girl (2017) - 7/1/21

Walking Tall (1973) - 7/1/21

Whip It (2009) - 7/1/21

White Nights (1985) - 7/1/21

William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996) - 7/1/21

Wolves (2017) - 7/1/21

Summer of Soul (2021) (Hulu Original) - 7/2/21

Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020) - 7/2/21

Flower of Evil: Complete Season 1 (Subbed) (Viki) - 7/3/21

I'll Go To You When The Weather Is Fine: Complete Season 1 (Subbed) (Viki) - 7/3/21

More Than Friends: Complete Season 1 (Subbed) (Viki) - 7/3/21

Dreamcatcher (2021) - 7/3/21

Premiering On Hulu - Week Of July 4

Leave No Trace (2018) - 7/4/21

My Wife and Kids: Complete Series (ABC) - 7/8/21

Murdoch Mysteries: Complete Season 13 (Acorn) - 7/8/21

Papillon (2017) - 7/8/21

This Way Up: Complete Season 2 (Hulu Original) - 7/9/21

grown-ish: Season 4 Premiere (Freeform) - 7/9/21

Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar (2021) - 7/9/21

In a World... (2013) - 7/9/21

Moffie (2021) - 7/9/21

47 Meters Down (2017) - 7/10/21

Premiering On Hulu - Week Of July 11

Love Island UK: Season 7 Premiere (iTV) - 7/12/21

Cleopatra in Space: Complete Season 1 (Peacock) - 7/14/21

Cleopatra en el Espacio: Complete Season 1 (Peacock) - 7/14/21

My All-American (2015) - 7/14/21

American Horror Stories: Two-Episode Limited Series Premiere (FX on Hulu) - 7/15/21

20,000 Days on Earth (2014) - 7/15/21

A Field In England (2013) - 7/15/21

The Act of Killing (2012) - 7/15/21

Amira & Sam (2014) - 7/15/21

Borgman (2013) - 7/15/21

Bullhead (2011) - 7/15/21

Cheap Thrills (2013) - 7/15/21

The Complex: Lockdown (2020) - 7/15/21

The Congress (2013) - 7/15/21

The Connection (2014) - 7/15/21

Enforcement (2021) - 7/15/21

Exit Plan (2021) - 7/15/21

The Final Member (2014) - 7/15/21

The FP (2011) - 7/15/21

I Declare War (2012) - 7/15/21

The Keeping Room (2014) - 7/15/21

Men & Chicken (2015) - 7/15/21

Mood Indigo (2013) - 7/15/21

Pieta (2012) - 7/15/21

R100 (2013) - 7/15/21

Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (2015) - 7/15/21

Wrong (2012) - 7/15/21

McCartney 3,2,1: Documentary Series Premiere (Hulu Original) - 7/16/21

Horimiya: Complete Season 1 (Dubbed) (Funimation) - 7/17/21

Premiering On Hulu - Week Of July 18

Olympic Dreams featuring Jonas Brothers: Special (NBC) - 7/22/21

Premiering On Hulu - Week Of July 25

The Artist (2011) - 7/26/21

The Resort (2021) - 7/29/21

Hulu’s TV Highlights For July 2021

While the ABC hit comedy black-ish is looking to wrap its run with its eighth and final season, its hit Freeform spinoff grown-ish is just about to enter its fourth season. Naturally, with all original Freeform programming, you’ll be able to catch the episode the day after, thanks to it being a part of the Hulu/Disney family! Meanwhile, with the 2020 Olympics finally looking to get underway, NBC will be airing a special entitled Olympic Dreams featuring Jonas Brothers. Just as the title would suggest, you’ll be able to see Joe, Kevin, and Nick Jonas competing against each other, assisted by actual Olympic athletes, in competitions of sport and strength.

Hulu’s Movie Highlights For July 2021

With 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures being two prime sources for Hulu originals, now is the perfect time to debut a movie like Summer of Soul. A documentary directed by famed musician Questlove, the film tells the story of the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969, and delves into the events true cultural impact. The catalog that was formerly known as the 20th Century Fox/Fox Searchlight banner will also provide some legacy thrills in July as both 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later are coming online; just in time to hype audiences for the sequel that never happened, but still could.

But if there is anything we truly need to hype up for Hulu’s incoming additions, it has to be the fact that you’ll finally be able to watch Barb and Star go to Vista Del Mar with a streaming subscription. So if you’ve been waiting to see what the fuss is all about, or have been looking to recommit yourself to a relationship with this unexpected comedy hit, the hour draws near. Just keep in mind that everything we’ve listed above is subject to change and availability; and we’ll see you back here this time next month to run down what August 2021 has in store for Hulu subscribers.

Some theme park attractions become classics and remain mostly unchanged for decades. Others get significantly refurbished or replaced after it becomes clear that the old attraction just isn't working the same way anymore, no matter how much fun it may be. That's about where we stand with the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith found at Disney's Hollywood Studios inside Walt Disney World. The ride is still a lot of fun, and it's perhaps the best roller coaster in Walt Disney World. However, the ride just feels old and the Aerosmith connection is showing its age.

There have been rumors of this attraction getting redesigned before, and for good reason. At 50 years of age, Aerosmith as a band has had a longer run than most other bands could dream of, but they're just not that big right now. The Steven Tyler-led group was still solidly popular in the late 1990s when the attraction first opened. As such, the ride would have been appealing to many different age groups then, but Aerosmith just hasn't kept that same level of popularity in the years since. It's time to give the Rock 'n' Roller coaster an overhaul.

But what's the best route for reimagining the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster? Do we just swap out the band and the music, and keep the same core ride? Or, would it be better to overhaul it by keeping the coaster, but otherwise changing everything around it? Here are a few different ideas for ways that one idea, or the other, could be done.

The Rock 'N Roller Coaster Starring Queen

The easiest way to update the ride would be to simply replace the music and the band. Take out Aerosmith and put in another band that would appeal at least as much, if not more. The problem there is that the first choice would likely be to go with a young modern band or artist, but you'll never know just how long they'll stay popular. So an older band, not unlike Aerosmith, is the way to go. Now, there are lots of bands that could be chosen for this. Originally, before Disney worked out its deal with Aerosmith, it had been talking to The Rolling Stones, who reportedly wanted too much money in licensing. But there's another band with a long history that Disney, technically, already has a relationship with: Queen.

The current incarnation of Queen is signed to Hollywood Records, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company, so there's already a connection between the two parties. And while Queen is still known for their "classic" music now as much as ever, that music is still very popular. Making a switch like this probably would have been better alongside the Oscar-winning biopic Bohemian Rhapsody rather than a few years later, but Queen's music is probably still more broadly popular than Aerosmith's right now.

The Rock 'N Roller Coaster Starring The Electric Mayhem

Full disclosure, I'm stealing this idea from what was originally an April Fool's Day joke, but the more I thought about it, the more I actually loved it. There's a lot of reasons an idea like this would work, i.e. going with a fictional band rather than the real one. First of all, it's great for Disney because it's a free idea, but it's also timeless. The Muppets will be popular forever, so there's every reason to believe this idea could last for decades. There won't be a need to swap it out in a few years.

But there's another reason this is great. Once upon a time, there were plans for The Muppets to get their own land at Disney's Hollywood Studios, and that land was supposed to include The Great Muppet Movie Ride, a Muppet-based parody of The Great Movie Ride, which was another attraction in the same park. That never materialized, but by doing this instead, the Muppets could actually take over the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and parody the ride that used to be there.

Monsters Inc. Door Coaster

If we're going to go the route of completely rethemeing the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster into something very different from what it is now, there's already been one solid idea for a roller coaster that could potentially be revived. The Monsters Inc. Door Coaster was a concept that was apparently running around Walt Disney Imagineering several years ago, but has seemingly been put on the shelf. The idea would have taken the "Door Chase" sequence from Pixar's Monsters Inc. and turned it into a thrill ride for guests to experience.

Apparently, the feeling at the time was that Disney's Hollywood Studios needed more family-friendly offerings, which led to the construction of Toy Story Land. But now that both Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge are done, maybe dusting off this idea to simply update an existing thrill ride isn't such a bad idea.

Iron Man Jukebox

To be sure, this is the longest of shots, but it's worth bringing up because the work of redesigning the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith has actually already been done. There's a version of the same attraction found at Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris. Or rather, there was, but it's currently being renovated so it can be turned into a new Iron Man-themed coaster called Iron Man Jukebox. The title seems to indicate the musical elements of the original ride will be retained, but with a more action-oriented story.

Of course, there's a big issue with doing the same thing at Disney's Hollywood Studios, as the deal that Marvel made with Universal Orlando Resort prior to being purchased by Disney prevents the company from using a massive number of characters at Walt Disney World, and Iron Man is among them. Having said that, there is one thing Disney has that could probably be used to help fix this problem: money. At some point. the lack of ability to use Marvel characters at Disney World is going to just be too much, and the company will need to work out a deal with Universal to get the characters back. That might as well happen now.

Cars: Piston Cup Challenge

Finally, here's one idea that, as far as I know, is completely original, but fits quite nicely with the exiting Rock 'n' Roller Coaster concept. The Cars movies are all about race cars like Lightning McQueen going really fast, so a roller coaster themed after the franchise certainly works. There's already a Cars themed attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios, but it's not like this would be the first time we saw two attractions based in the same movie in one theme park.

However, the other thing that the Cars franchise is known for is its needle drops. There are a number of great songs that are associated with the films, and so those could be the songs that get played while the roller coaster is moving. We could get a medley of tunes including "Life is a Highway," "Real Gone," "Run that Race," or "Ride." They're all great up tempo tunes that would work perfectly with the rest of the ride.

The core of Rock 'n' Roller Coaster is still great and it's a ride that, in some form, will hopefully still live on for a long time to come, but it does need a fresh coat of paint. Hopefully now that all the other big additions to Disney's Hollywood Studios from recent years have been completed, it's time to give this great ride a fresh look.

It's completely understandable why movies based on true stories, specifically biopics, are so popular both with Hollywood and with audiences. There's something that just feels different when the drama that we're seeing unfold actually happened in real life. Of course, no biopic entirely survives adaptation, and so the story isn't ever 100% true, but the basic story is usually there. This is why the recent news that we'll be seeing a biopic about Madonna that will be directed by her, and before that one starring Chris Hemsworth as Hulk Hogan, is not surprising. It is, however, slightly disconcerting, because I'm afraid both of these films may fall victim to what I will call "The Bohemian Rhapsody Problem" and I think it's a reason that movies like these should not be coming quite so soon.

Bohemian Rhapsody wasn't a terrible movie. It was fine, fun even, and Rami Malek's performance as Freddie Mercury was one worthy of recognition. Having said that, the movie also had some issues. First and foremost, it didn't offer much of anything new to the biopic formula. A lot of biopics fall victim to telling essentially the same story. The subject strives to achieve success in their chosen field, the subject achieves success, the subject falls victim to the pitfalls that come with success, which can include, but are not limited to, sex, drugs, and an ego the size of a skyscraper, From there, the subject hits rock bottom and then comes out the other side having learned a lesson. The subject achieves success again, but appreciates it more now.

There's a reason many biopics use this structure, especially when dealing with musicians. To a certain extent, it's because it's true. Frequently becoming a celebrity does bring with it a new lifestyle, one much faster paced, that can introduce temptations like drugs that had not been previously dealt with. Both Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, two biopics that came out about a year apart dealing with musicians from the same era of rock and roll, both tell essentially this same story.

The Bohemian Rhapsody Problem

There was something about Bohemian Rhapsody that specifically bothered me when I saw it. While the film is certainly focused on the life of Freddie Mercury, it's also the story of the band Queen as a whole. And yet, this particular stereotypical arc only belongs to Freddie Mercury. It's interesting that the only member of Queen who was apparently ever an asshole is the one who wasn't alive to defend himself.

The rest of Queen was intimately involved in the creation of Bohemian Rhapsody, including having a hand in choosing Rami Malek to play Freddie Mercury. Even if it was unintentional, it's not surprising that Bohemian Rhapsody is kinder to the living members of Queen than it is to the one who is no longer with us. I'm not saying this was the intention of the film, I'm sure it was not, but it's human nature to want to paint ourselves in the best possible light, and only certain members of Queen had the ability to influence that, even if it was unconscious. In the end, it makes it look like Freddie Mercury was the only member of Queen who ever made a mistake.

Not Every Biopic Subject Is Going To Be Honest

I've been a professional wrestling fan since I was nine years old, and so seeing a biopic about the life of Hulk Hogan is something that interests me, but I'm actually less interested because Hogan himself will reportedly be an advisor on the picture. Hogan's support of the film will almost certainly help boost its profile, and so there's an incentive to keep him happy by making a movie that he's happy with. This is a guy who is famous within professional wrestling circles for not wanting to do the job in the ring. Is there a chance in hell he's going to willingly let himself look bad in a film?

The same thing is potentially the case with this upcoming Madonna biopic that will apparently be directed by the superstar. I'm certainly not going to argue that anybody understands Madonna better than Madonna herself, and the woman might every intention of telling an honest version of her life; something that maybe doesn't necessarily always make her look good, but her perspective is always going to be biased. Elton John seemed committed to telling a real story about his own life and not softening the edges, and that's part of what I think makes Rocketman a better movie than its Queen counterpart, but only slightly. John can clearly only understand his story from his point-of-view, and sometimes an outside perspective is what we need.

Certainly first-hand accounts from the main subject of a biopic are going to be important and frequently the most important element of any story, but they should not be the only element that's taken into account, and no movie should feel entirely beholden to the first-hand account as if it were gospel. It may be a perfect perspective on the events that took place, but that doesn't mean it completely understood those events, and how others saw your famous biopic subject can have value as well.

Time As Distance Give Perspective

I certainly hope that these forthcoming biopics on Madonna and Hulk Hogan are good. If they find unique and interesting ways to tell their stories, they can certainly still be entertaining. But if they want to be more than that, if they want to try and say something of interest about these people, and not simply recreate events, they may have more trouble. Madonna is great and she accomplished a lot, but she's actually not the ultimate arbiter of what Madonna will ultimately mean to society. That's going to come from others in the future looking back on what she did and how she lived.

Nearly every biopic exists to celebrate its subject unless it's the rare biopic designed to vilify its subject. In the end, the movie will show us that despite shortcomings and some bad decisions, there's a reason this person is worthy of having a movie made about them in the first place. But it would feel like that celebration was coming from a more genuine place if it wasn't being overseen by the person the movie is about. That makes it sound like they are the ones celebrating themself, and that's going to make us wonder just how true the story we saw really is.

Along with the boom of superhero movies and the horror genre among the masses, interest and blockbuster potential of music biopics was made apparent in 2018 with the release of Bohemian Rhapsody. The movie, based on Freddie Mercury’s life with his band Queen, soared to $903 million globally and won four Oscars, including Rami Malek scoring one for his portrayal of the “Killer Queen” frontman. Following its success, plenty more movies about famous musicians are on their way.

In 2019, we had Rocketman tracking Elton John’s life in the form of a musical. What’s next and will any of them top Bohemian Rhapsody’s status as the highest-grossing music biopic of all time? Here are the subjects whose lives are being primed for cinematic study:

Motörhead

The latest news on the music biopic front is a closer look into a defining band for the heavy metal/punk scene with a biopic about Motörhead called Lemmy. The title takes after the band's frontman Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, who had a notable life, starting off as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix and as a member ofpsychedelic rock band Hawkwing before forming the influential Motörhead with Eddie Clarke and Phil Taylor, who will also be focused on in the film. Lemmy will be directed by Greg Daniels, who previously made a 2010 Motörhead documentary with the same name. He told Deadline he's been developing the project since 2013 with Motörhead’s manager Todd Singerman. Here's what Olliver said about the upcoming biopic:

Lemmy is looking at an early 2021 production start date and is sure to give fans of bands such as Megadeath, Metallica and Anthrax context to key history into heavy metal.

Bob Dylan

James Mangold is directing a movie about Bob Dylan starring Little Women’s Timothée Chalamet. The 24-year-old actor has made a name for himself in the past couple years for his roles in Call Me By Your Name, Beautiful Boy and Lady Bird. According to Deadline, the young actor will portray Bob Dylan at the time when he decided to embrace Rock and ditch his Folk roots. The working title is Going Electric, and it will be directed by the filmmaker behind Logan, Ford v Ferrari and Oscar-nominated Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line.

Michael Jackson

Graham King, the producer of Bohemian Rhapsody, is keeping busy with music biopics with two on the way. The first is a biopic about “Thriller” icon Michael Jackson. The movie is said to span his entire life, including the sexual abuse allegations that recently were explored in HBO’s Leaving Neverland. The movie reportedly “won’t be sanitized.” King obtained access to all of Jackson’s music from his family’s estate and the movie is set to be written by John Logan, who is behind the Oscar-nominated scripts for Gladiator and Hugo, along with Sweeney Todd, Skyfall, Spectre and The Aviator.

Bee Gees

The second music biopic in the works from Graham King is one for the Bee Gees! The ‘70s group consisted of three brothers, who are most famously known for their songs on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack including “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever.” The Disco-era movie about the group seems to be not as far along than the one featuring Michael Jackson, but Paramount has purchased the life rights to the Gibb family – therefore leaving the ability for their music library to be featured in the upcoming movie about them.

David Bowie

This one’s expected to come in May of this year. Stardust is a small independent film about a 24-year-old David Bowie’s first tour across the United States back in 1971. Johnny Flynn of Netflix’s Lovesick is playing Bowie, with Jena Malone and Marc Maron also part of the cast This was the time when Bowie was donning a folk-rock aesthetic and he was contemplating the persona of Ziggy Stardust, which would later propel him to later mega-stardom in the ‘70s and ‘80s. However, Bowie’s son Duncan Jones has made it clear he’s not supporting this project, and Stardust doesn’t have the rights to Bowie's music.

Aretha Franklin

Another music biopic coming out in 2020 is Respect, which is about the legendary R&B vocalist, Aretha Franklin. The late singer picked Jennifer Hudson to play her years prior, and the movie has finally gotten off the ground and is coming on August 14. Along with Hudson, Forest Whitaker is playing her civil rights activist preacher father; Marlon Wayans will portray her first husband, Ted White; and Mary J. Blige will be Dinah Washington. Respect is directed by Liesl Tommy, who previously helmed episodes of Insecure and Jessica Jones.

Elvis Presley

Baz Luhrmann, the famed director of Moulin Rouge, The Great Gatsby and Romeo + Juliet, is finally returning to the director’s chair for the first time in over five years to make a film on the life of Elvis Presley. Television actor (and recently seen in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) Austin Butler is portraying “The King,” beating out Harry Styles, Ansel Elgort and Miles Teller for the role. Tom Hanks has been rumored to be playing Elvis’ manager “Colonel Tom” Parker, who had a controlling hold on the singer’s life. The movie is expected to start shooting soon in Queensland, Australia.

Amy Winehouse

In late 2018, the family of the late Amy Winehouse announced a biopic about their daughter was in works over at Monumental Pictures – which has ties to Anne with an E, Harlots and How to Build a Girl. Eight years after the “Back to Black” singer’s death at 27, her family feel the “time was right” to now tell her story on the big screen. Proceeds from the film will reportedly benefit the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which works to prevent the effects of drugs and alcohol on young people, something she famously struggled with and ultimately died from alcohol poisoning. The movie will be written by Kinky Boots’ Geoff Deane.

Boy George

Back in May 2019, it was announced that a biopic about Boy George was in the works to be written and directed by Sacha Gervasi, who previously worked on Hitchcock, November Criminals and The Terminal. On a radio show, Boy George said he’d like Sophie Turner to play him for the movie. The two do have a serious resemblance! Turner tweeted out “I’m SO down” following his interview, but not much else has been reported about the Boy George movie. The ‘80s icon first became prominent for his hit “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?” with his band Culture Club and has since become a LGBTQ icon.

There’s a lot of music biopics on the way! There's also been brief mentions for movies centered on Bob Marley, Carole King, Celine Dion, Gucci Mane, Madonna, John Lennon and Yoko One. Considering the success of Bohemian Rhapsody, it seems like the interest in the production of these movies are at an all-time high!

Which of these are you most excited to see? Sound off in the comments below and vote in the poll below! Check out five great music biopics to check out if you liked Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman!

Bohemian Rhapsody was one of those rare films that succeeded both as a box office hit and as an awards season darling. It became the most financially successful musical biopic to date when it was released, and it was nominated for several Oscars, and won some, including a Best Actor award for Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. If this were any other movie, one would expect talk of a sequel just on principal, and simply because Bohemian Rhapsody seemed to tell the whole story, doesn't mean things have actually been any different.

Bohemian Rhapsody tells the story of the rise of Freddie Mercury and Queen from local band to global stardom, followed by a fall. It ends with the band reuniting at the historic Live Aid concert. While the film largely wraps up the story with some on screen text at the end, the story of the man and the band certainly doesn't end with Live Aid, and so a sequel is always possible. However, at this point, Queen guitarist and Bohemian Rhapsody producer Brian May doesn't expect a follow-up to happen, certainly not anytime soon. As May told Rolling Stone...

Considering the success of Bohemian Rhapsody, it's certainly no shock that the idea of a sequel has been seriously explored. At this point, however, we probably shouldn't expect it. The previous film ended on a high note with Queen coming together in what has gone down as one of the band's greatest performances. One assumes the sequel would have to end with the death of Freddie Mercury, and that certainly wouldn't make audiences feel quite the same way.

There's other reasons that a second movie is potentially difficult. Bohemian Rhapsody took some significant liberties with history, and a sequel would have to, one assumes, incorporate those changes into its story. This would then further change the real story in ways that might make a second film even less true to life and harder to say it was based on a true story.

Brian May does tell Rolling Stone "I think we should look somewhere else" rather than make a sequel, which implies that something might be on the way that is Queen related without being a direct sequel to Bohemian Rhapsody. Certainly, any sort of Queen related project has a real opportunity for success following the movie's success. Whatever Queen wants to do, the iron is hot now and will only be getting cooler as time goes on.

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Sometimes, there are moments where even our closest friends and coworkers may not recognize us. Maybe it’s a trick of the light, a slight change in our voices, or in the case of Bohemian Rhapsody’s Joseph Mazzello, a wig and a British accent; but all of those things can lead to potential confusion with even our most cherished colleagues. Just ask Steven Spielberg, as he apparently didn’t recognize his Jurassic Park star in his role as Queen’s bassist John Deacon, according to the actor himself.

On hand for last night’s Jurassic Park livestream commentary on IGN, Mazzello talked about how Spielberg is one of the people he still keeps in contact regularly from his early acting career. And in talking about their strong connection as friends, he told this story of deception via his acting prowess in Bohemian Rhapsody.

Imagine having to be the person that told Steven Spielberg that Bohemian Rhapsody’s John Deacon was also Tim Murphy from Jurassic Park. Though, to be fair, the wig work combined with the accent was probably enough of a double whammy to fool most audiences. So it's definitely understandable that Spielberg would take this moment it in stride with an, “Of course!” style epiphany, it’s still a pretty amusing story. Especially in light of the details that Joseph Mazzello gave about how he bonded with the legendary director, during their time with the dinosaurs.

As a child actor/aspiring director, Mazzello’s ability to land Jurassic Park as a massive acting gig proved to be a bit of an education for the young talent. Not only did this lead to a wonderful experience under Steven Spielberg’s directing hand, but it also led to Joseph Mazzello getting excused from some of his on-set lessons for what the director would call “field trips."

Those trips would show Joseph Mazzello the inner workings of Jurassic Park’s production, and further cultivate the friendship that he and Spielberg still share to this day. It also yielded some pretty awesome keepsakes that the actor showed off during last night’s livestream, such as a personally signed set photo from Steven Spielberg, and a Raptor model. But somehow, that Bohemian Rhapsody movie had enough magic in it to fool one of our greatest blockbuster directors into thinking he was watching a stranger on the big screen.

If you’re still talking to someone from 27 years in your past, like, say, Laura Dern, it’s safe to say you’re still pretty friendly. But to still be exchanging handwritten letters with that person, like Joseph Mazzello and Steven Spielberg have done, to me that bumps things up to the bracket of friendship. Indeed, the relationship between these two colleagues is strong, even if it can temporarily be thrown off by a wig and an accent.

Bohemian Rhapsody is currently available on HBO, and its various streaming platforms as well as on Digital, DVD and more. Meanwhile, Jurassic Park can be found on Digital HD, as well as 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD, wherever you buy or rent your movies.

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Since winning the 2019 Academy Award for Best Actor, Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek has been on the up and up as one of Hollywood's most reliable performers, yet, despite his steady rise in popularity, there is still much to be learned about the man. For instance, did you know that he was in a Twilight movie? Totally took me by surprise to learn that.

All joking aside, there truly are plenty of fascinating things to learn about 39-year-old Los Angeles native in his life off screen. For instance, what inspired the ominous scarring of his Bond villain in the upcoming No Time to Die, did he do his own stunts in the mobile gas tank filling scene from Need for Speed, and just how far did he go in order to so convincingly play a morphine addict on Mr. Robot?

To be honest, we are not going to answer any of those questions here. However, I have five other facts about Rami Malek that I assure you are just as informative and intriguing.

Rami Malek Pretended To Be His Identical Twin Brother, Per His Request

Like his debut film role as Ahkmerah in Night at the Museum and his vampiric character, Benjamin, in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, Rami Malek is of Egyptian descent. His father, Cairo tour guide and travel agent turned insurance salesman Said, and mother, accountant Nelly, immigrated to the United States in the late 1970s. Soon, they would give birth to their eldest daughter Yasmine and, in 1981, twins Rami and Sami, who would use their identical appearance to start trouble, even into adulthood.

In 2015, while promoting Mr. Robot, Rami Malek appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where he told a story in which Sami asked him to perform a Greek monologue for his college acting class... as him. The recent Evansville Theatre grad agreed to it and the performance he gave was almost too impressive to his brother's professor to get away with it. Fortunately, Sami got the points he needed to graduate, all thanks to Rami.

Rami Malek Went To High School With Other Future Stars

Speaking of education, while attending high school at Notre Dame in Sherman Oaks, California, Rami Malek already got to have a taste of what it is like to have famous friends prior to landing a career in acting. However, not all of them had been touched by fame yet.

As she proved by a throwback Instagram post, Rachel Bilson, star of the The OC and Hart of Dixie, was a classmate and good buddy of the future star of film and television. Just one grade below Rami Malek at Notre Dame, but already a Golden Globe-nominated child actress, was future Spider-Man star Kirsten Dunst, whom Malek revealed that he used to have a crush on when speaking to E! on the red carpet for the 2016 Golden Globes. However, his Hollywood connections in high school do not stop there...

Rami Malek Had A Previous Connection To Mr. Robot Co-star Christian Slater

Prior to leading the Queen biopic as Freddie freaking Mercury, Rami Malek's biggest role to date was on the monstrously acclaimed USA series Mr. Robot, for which he won an Emmy playing a morphine-addicted vigilante computer hacker mentored by the mysterious titular character, played by Golden Globe-winning '80s hero Christian Slater. However, when the actors were first cast on the show, which ended after four years in 2019, they were not exactly strangers.

On an interview with Chris Hardwick on his podcast Id1ot, Rami Malek recalled back in high school when he went on a date with a classmate named Emily, who just happened to be his future Mr. Robot co-star's stepsister. In retrospect, it actually makes the eventual reveal of Christian Slater's true identity on the show much creepier than it already was...

Rami Malek Has Voiced Many Video Game Characters

Speaking of creepy, Rami Malek starred in the cinematic adaptation of popular video game series Need for Speed, in which he plays mechanic turned office worker Finn, who, when he learns his motorhead buddies are reuniting, quits his job by publicly stripping naked in majestic defiance of the corporate hell scape he has been suffering. Needless to say, that was not the performance that led him to Oscar-winning glory, but, the 2013 racing film was not his first experience lending his talents to gaming either.

In the same year that he made his screen debut on Gilmore Girls, Rami Malek had an uncredited gig voicing various characters in the 2004 sequel to the blockbuster Xbox exclusive Halo. A decade later, he reprised his role as Tahno from the Avatar: The Last Airbender spin-off The Legend of Korra in the video game adaptation of the popular animated series and voiced a central character of the single-player horror thriller for Playstation 4, Until Dawn, the following year.

How False Teeth Helped Rami Malek Transform Into Freddie Mercury

At first, Rami Malek never expected that he would never have what it takes to play Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in the 2018 blockbuster biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. Fortunately, all it took was a some rigorous physical training and some very big teeth.

Before the singer-songwriter became Freddie Mercury, he had a more cruel nickname: Bucky, due to his distinct chompers that British tooth-making company Fangs FX re-created for Rami Malek to wear on set. During an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, the actor revealed that he kept the teeth for himself after shooting wrapped up. By managing to perfect the musician's accent whilst wearing them, Malek's performance led him to become only the second person of Arab ancestry to win the Oscar for Best Actor, second to F. Murray Abraham.

So, do you believe these facts have efficiently given you a deeper perspective into the life of Rami Malek, or does it still feel like fantasy? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for more information and updates on the highly talented actor here on CinemaBlend.

Have you been sitting on your HBO Now or HBO Go account for what seems like forever, looking for something new before you end up starting The Wire for the fourth time? Don't worry, we've all been there before, but fear not because I've put together a list of the best movies that are streaming on HBO and the premium channels multiple platforms.

This list of awesome action movies, comedies, tales of romance, horror classic, and some big budget science fiction flicks will surely give you at least one option to prevent you from digging deeper and deeper into the endless abyss that is HBO's movie library. Pop some popcorn, turn down the lights, and sit back and relax because we're going to the movies…

Us (2019)

Jordan Peele's 2019 followup to Get Out, Us follows Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong'o) and her family as they visit the beach town where she grew up, only to come face to face with a group of masked strangers who look oddly familiar.

Stream it on HBO here.

Die Hard (1988)

You could argue whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie until we're all blue in the face, but one thing that's for sure is that this 1988 explosive and iconic action movie featuring Bruce Willis as New York cop John McClane whose attempt to pick up his wife from work ends with a lot of shooting, some bonds, and a towering inferno.

Also Try: Die Hard 2, Die Hard With A Vengeance

Stream it on HBO here.

The Mighty Ducks (1992)

Powerful attorney (and former youth hockey star) Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) is knocked down a few pegs after he is pulled over for driving under the influence and forced to coach an inner-city youth hockey team in the family sports classic The Mighty Ducks.

Also Try: Home Alone 2: Lost In New York

Stream it on HBO here.

Alien (1979)

Ridley Scott's classic horror film set in space follows the crew of the spaceship Nostromo after it receives a distress call from a distant planet. Watch out because this chiller is terrifying, especially when you remember that no one can hear you scream in space.

Also Try: Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection

Stream it on HBO here.

Love Actually (2004)

With an ensemble cast too long to type out, the 2004 British holiday classic Love Actually follows nearly a dozen different characters as they all seek love and companionship around Christmas. And with such grand love stories, you don't have to wait for Christmas to watch this one again.

Also Try: How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, Notting Hill, Reality Bites

Stream it on HBO here.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum picks up right where the second movie in Keanu Reeves' most recent blockbuster franchise left off with the most sought after hitman in the world on the run from his old friends and allies.

Stream it on HBO here.

Fight Club (1999)

After two new friends start an oddly therapeutic underground fighting group, things start to get out of hand rather quickly in David Fincher's 1999 cult classic Fight Club. Just make sure to not break the first rule of fight club...

Stream it on HBO here.

The Others (2001)

Starring Nicole Kidman in one of the most chilling performances of her career, The Others follows a mother during World War II after her family moves into an old English house that has its share of secrets and unwelcome inhabitants.

Stream it on HBO here.

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Francis Ford Coppola's Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now tells the story of an army captain sent into the heart of the jungle to locate and neutralize an unhinged and dangerous superior officer.

Stream it on HBO here.

Armageddon (1998)

Michael Bay's 1998 disaster blockbuster Armageddon offers a look at a scenario in which offshore oilmen are better equipped to the destroy an asteroid before it hits the planet than say a group of NASA astronauts.

Also Try: War Of The Worlds, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, The Day After Tomorrow

Stream it on HBO here.

Boys Don't Cry (1999)

Boys Don't Cry tells the heartbreaking true story of a young transgender man searching for love, and himself, in rural Nebraska. Based on the real-life story of Brandon Teena as portrayed by Hilary Swank, who took home Academy Award for Best Actress in 1999.

Stream it on HBO here.

For Love Of The Game (1999)

Kevin Costner plays an aging pitcher who thinks back on the "one who got away" while he's in pursuit of the perfect game in the 1999 romantic baseball hybrid For Love Of The Game.

Also Try: 61*

Stream it on HBO here.

Requiem For A Dream (2000)

Darren Aronofsky's Requiem For A Dream probably isn't the happiest movie to watch, but this brutal and pessimistic look at addiction is definitely one you'll never forget.

Also Try: The Diving Bell And The Butterfly

Stream it on HBO here.

Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

As a poor young man in Mumbai answers question after question on a television quiz show, he looks back on this life and and his long-lost love that he has to find in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire.

Stream it on HBO here.

A Star Is Born (2018)

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga appear as star-crossed lovers in the 2018 remake of the classic Cinderella story A Star Is Born. Bring the tissues because this one is an emotional gut-punch.

Also Try: Moulin Rouge, Chocolat

Stream it on HBO here.

The Town (2010)

Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, and Jeremy Renner star in Affleck's love letter to the city of Boston and the notorious bank robbers who call New England home in The Town.

Also Try: Prisoners, Gangs Of New York

Stream it on HBO here.

Big (1988)

After a young teenager wishes to be big, his wish is granted. But when he is transformed into a fully grown man (Tom Hanks), he soon realizes that being an adult isn't everything it's cracked up to be.

Also Try: All Of Me, Arthur, Defending Your Life

Stream it on HBO here.

Bridesmaids (2011)

Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph prove that you don't have to be a man to lead a rude and crude comedy in the 2011 hit Bridesmaids.

Also Try: Good Boys, Grandma's Boy

Stream it on HBO here.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, and Emma Stone star in the surprisingly funny and heartfelt 2001 romance Crazy, Stupid, Love. about a middle-aged man trying to get his groove back with the help of a ladies man who ends up being closer to home than he thought.

Also Try: Bye Bye Love, The Family Stone

Stream it on HBO here.

The Nice Guys (2016)

Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling star as two down on their luck private detectives on the trail of a missing girl in the Shane Black-directed dark comedy The Nice Guys.

Stream it on HBO here.

Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

Before he was earning Oscar buzz for his turn as a obsessive gambler in Uncut Gems, Adam Sandler was first viewed as a serious actor following his performance in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love about a lonely man who falls in love with a mysterious woman.

Also Try: Muriel's Wedding

Stream it on HBO here.

Raising Arizona (1987)

Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter star as a couple on the rocks who snatch a baby from a local celebrity in the Coen brothers' 1987 offbeat comedy Raising Arizona.

Also Try: A Fish Called Wanda

Stream it on HBO here.

Casino Royale (2006)

The James Bond franchise was in need of a serious facelift and that's exactly what it got with Daniel Craig's debut as 007 in the 2006 spy thriller Casino Royale. See where it all started for Craig's Bond before he calls it quits following the release of No Time To Die.

Also Try: Fast Five

Stream it on HBO here.

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Fans of the iconic rock band Queen, or at least their flamboyant and troubled lead singer Freddie Mercury will enjoy the 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, which takes audiences on the hard to believe journey from the formation of the band all the way to their legendary Live Aid performance in 1985.

Also Try: Blinded By The Light**,Yesterday

**Stream it on HBO here.

Shazam! (2018)

If you like comic book movies and Big, then Shazam! is the movie for you. When BIlly Baston has a chance encounter with a sorcerer, he is given the ability to turn into an all-powerful, and fully grown, superhero by saying one word: Shazam!

Also Try: Bruce Almighty

Stream it on HBO here.

The Land Before Time (1988)

The Land Before Time (and its countless sequels) is a cherished animated classic about a young brontosaurus who sets out on one of the most epic prehistoric adventures alongside his growing cast of friends and the terrifying T-Rex who wants nothing more than to stop the young dino in his tracks.

Also Try: Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, The Wizard, Babe

Stream it on HBO here.

Bohemian Rhapsody was one of the biggest hits of 2018 no matter what metric you use. it did serious box office business and it also won its share of awards, including a Best Actor Oscar for Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. The degree to which it was a success may have been a surprise to some, but apparently not to Marc Martel, who was one of the voices of Freddie Mercury.

While Rami Malek has said he did some of his own singing for Bohemian Rhapsody, we know that his voice isn't the only one we hear in the movie. Marc Martel, a Canadian singer and musician does a lot of the heavy lifting sounding like Freddie Mercury, and the singer recently stated on SiriusXM (via Ultimate Guitar) that he was confident early on that the movie would be hit. According to Martel...

Marc Martel started out singing Christian music but has been fronting a Queen tribute band for years because the similarity between his voice and Freddie Mercury's voice had been noted early on.

Martel doesn't specify exactly which songs in the movie he performed, and he's very clear that he is only "one of" the voices of Freddie Mercury that we hear in Bohemian Rhapsody, though he admits he doesn't know who else may have contributed. Martel's voice also isn't heard alone. His singing is layered in with, at least, Freddie Mercury's own voice, and likely Rami Malek's as well, to create something a little different so we're not simply listening to prerecorded lyrics from Queen albums.

Martel had apparently been approached by Queen manager Jim Beach years ago to potentially add his voice to the film that became Bohemian Rhapsody. It was something of a long road for the movie to make it to the screen, but when it was time to record the vocals, Martel got the call.

And he certainly wasn't wrong that the movie "was going to do really well." It brought in over $900 million in global box office dollars, won the Golden Globe for Best Picture - Drama, was nominated for five Oscars, and took home four of them, including the previously mentioned Best Actor statue for Rami Malek.

We've seen a few different musically inspired films follow Bohemian Rhapsody. Only the Elton John movie Rocketman is a straight biopic in the same way, but Yesterday and Blinded by the Light each use the music of a specific band or artist, The Beatles and Bruce Springsteen respectively in this case, to tell a story.

Once Hollywood lands a certifiable hit, a string of movies of its kind is sure to follow. Such is the case with last year’s Bohemian Rhapsody. The music biopic following Queen’s rise to stardom and the famed band’s personal struggles was one of 2018's greatest hits on the big screen. Now, a Michael Jackson biopic is moonwalking down the line!

Bohemian Rhapsody producer Graham King has reportedly secured the rights to make a movie centered on the “Thriller” legend, along with access to all of Michael Jackson’s music from his family’s estate. The movie will apparently span the musician’s entire life and is not intended to be a “sanitized rendering” of his legacy, per Deadline.

Graham King’s GK Films has hired John Logan as the film’s screenwriter, and he is a two-time Oscar nominee for his scripts for Gladiator and Hugo. Logan also wrote the big-screen adaptation of Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd, the two most recent James Bond films Skyfall and Spectre, and Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator.

Graham King and John Logan’s work on the Howard Hughes film may particularly instill some confidence, considering Leonardo DiCaprio's portrayal showed the legend complexly dealing with his mental illness and germaphobia amidst his better known aviation career. However, in terms of Michael Jackson’s life, there’s a ton more to tackle here.

As HBO’s recent documentary Leaving Neverland highlighted, Jackson has a troubled history with sexual abuse allegations that first surfaced back in 1993. The music legend defended himself, paid out settlements, and was brought to trial in 2005 for several claims connected to children having sleepovers at his Neverland Ranch. (The jury produced a verdict of not guilty.) The documentary has since been involved in a $100 million lawsuit with the Jackson estate, which has called it a “tabloid character assassination.”

Additionally, Michael Jackson also allegedly had a tough childhood flooded with mental and emotional abuse by his father, as he and his siblings rose to fame as the Jackson 5, finding hits with “ABC” and “I Want You Back” in the early ‘70s. Of course, in the ‘80s Jackson became an icon in the era of MTV with massive hits such as “Billie Jean” and “Beat It." There’s certainly a ton of material to be touched upon from the singer’s reputation up to his death in 2009 at the age of 50.

News of Graham King making a Michael Jackson movie comes just a few weeks after it was reported the producer was also moving forward with a biopic about the Bee Gees. The movie about the “Stayin’ Alive” artists seems to be further along than the Jackson biopic since it has been picked up by Paramount, whereas the latter is currently without a studio.

King just found success with Bohemian Rhapsody, which became the highest-grossing music biopic of all time with a $903 million worldwide gross. It was nominated for six Oscars, including a Best Actor win for Rami Malek. An Elton John musical, Rocketman, came out this summer as well and a David Bowie movie is currently in production.

What do you think of this Michael Jackson biopic? Leave a comment below and check out our guide to movies coming in 2020!

Musical biopics have been popular theatrical outings recently, with Bohemian Rhapsody making nearly a billion dollars with its story about Queen and the Elton John biopic Rocketman making a tidy profit some few months after. There’s one major difference between Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman however: While Rami Malek’s singing was reworked to make him sound more like Freddie Mercury, Taron Egerton did his own singing as Elton John.

Of course, there are people out there in the universe who have wondered if Taron Egerton has thoughts about the differences between his biopic and the Fox one. During a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live! the actor had a pretty diplomatic answer when questioned about how he feels about Rami Malek not doing his own singing. He said:

There’s something goofily charming about 30-year-old Taron Egerton referring to 38-year-old Rami Malek as “an incredible young man,” but it’s mostly just nice Egerton didn’t take the bait the Watch What Happens Live! caller dangled in front of him.

If you have wondered how he really feels about all of the comparisons between the two musical movies, he has spoken out about it previously, calling Rami Malek's performance "astonishing" and describing the film itself as 'rip-roaring" and "great fun." He also previously said he hoped the movie would make "half as much" as Bohemian Rhapsody, so it looks like he isn't particularly interested in comparing box office totals either.

There is something to be said about Taron Egerton’s performance as Elton John mostly relying on an intimate performance that focused more on what Taron Egerton could bring to the table while playing the singer rather than being focused on embodying the singer from voice to toe. (In fact Elton John didn't really want Egerton to sound exactly like him.) Rami Malek’s version of Freddie Mercury focused a lot on his physical transformation, the ability of the actor to fully embody Mercury’s mannerisms, his performances and even his teeth.

Even though both actors were part of musical biopics and both involved Director Dexter Fletcher, Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody ultimately aren’t even trying to do the same thing or appeal to the same audience. Rocketman is more of a straight musical with the Elton John songs featured directly tying into the plot.

Bohemian Rhapsody uses music to capture the feeling of the time period. It also ends with an extended scene given fans a recreation of a good chunk of the Queen performance at the real-life event Live Aid, which is one of the most audacious extended cinematic moments I’ve witnessed and I have no idea how the studio was brave enough to think the movie could pull it off. But they did, and it does. Just like the Elton John and Freddie Mercury performances were different, the tone and formatting of both movies were too.

Meanwhile, if you are wondering whether or not Taron Egerton has a favorite Elton John song, he also revealed it’s one that didn’t make it into the film: “Someone Saved My Life Tonight.”

I think that would have been a “beautiful performance by an incredible young man,” too. Rocketman is now out on Blu-ray and DVD, as is Bohemian Rhapsody.

We may be deep in the comic book movie age with no end in sight, but over the last year or so, it would seem that we are also entering the music biopic age. Beloved musical artists are getting the feature film biopic treatment at what seems to be an ever-increasing clip. Case in point, producer Graham King has found his follow-up to the massive hit Bohemian Rhapsody. He will be doing a Bee Gees biopic next.

Graham King, who produced that multiple Oscar-winning Freddie Mercury biopic, is teaming with Paramount Pictures and producer-financier Sister to bring the story of the Bee Gees to the big screen. According to Deadline, Paramount purchased the life rights to the Gibb family estate on behalf of Graham King, so unlike a film like the upcoming David Bowie movie Stardust, this Bee Gees biopic will be able to use the group’s classic songs in the movie.

The London-based Sister Pictures, in its first domestic project, will come aboard the Bee Gees biopic as a financier and producing partner. There are no details on the project beyond the fact that a deal is done and it's happening. So at this early stage, we’ll have to wait to find out who is cast and who will direct it, but it seems that Paramount and Sister and Graham King will look to find a writer quickly and get this movie underway.

Whoever writes the Bee Gees biopic, he or she will have plenty of rich story to mine. The Bee Gees are one of the best-selling music groups of all-time, with over 220 million records sold and a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The pop group, consisting of brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, began singing together in the late 1950s, but had a career resurgence when they wrote songs for the 1977 John Travolta classic Saturday Night Fever, including “Night Fever” and “Staying Alive.”

The only surviving member of the Bee Gees is Barry Gibb, and depending on the tack the biopic takes, it could certainly explore some of the group’s personal tragedies. Although the Bee Gees were made up of three brothers, they had a younger brother, Andy Gibb, a successful music artist in his own right who died at the age of 30.

With the life rights secured and a catalog of classic hits at the film’s disposal, Graham King has some solid components for another hit music biopic. Bohemian Rhapsody was lightning in a bottle and had the benefit of covering a band that remains incredibly popular, so achieving another $903 million at the box office seems unlikely.

Nevertheless, just because a music biopic doesn’t make close to $1 billion doesn’t mean it isn’t a success. Paramount did well with Rocketman earlier this year, so the studio clearly sees value in pursuing another film in this genre. We can add this Bee Gees biopic to a list that includes the aforementioned Stardust and Baz Lurhmann’s Elvis biopic among others. If your favorite music artist hasn't gotten a biopic yet, just wait.

No release date has been set for the Bee Gees biopic. For movies that do have release dates, check out our 2019 premiere guide.

Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody are two recent films that have received a great deal of comparison. Both are biopics about music stars from the same era, and both follow very similar trajectories in their stories. There are plenty of reasons to compare them, but one person who can't do that is Elton John, the subject of Rocketman, because he's never seen Bohemian Rhapsody.

Bohemian Rhapsody was a box office hit and an awards season darling, so a lot of people ended up seeing it, and one might expect that, especially since Elton John would have a unique perspective on the movie, he would be one of those who checked it out. However, it turns out that's exactly the reason he's avoided the movie. John says he can't watch it because he was too close to Freddie Mercury.

I've never seen somebody I knew personally portrayed by an actor in a film, but just trying to imagine such a thing is strange. I can totally see why Elton John might have trouble watching Bohemian Rhapsody. There's the possibility of getting frustrated with the film for the ways in which it changes the story. There's the potential difficulty that comes with reliving events that might be emotionally difficult to go through a second time. Regardless of how good or bad the movie turns out to be, there's the possibility of dealing with some serious issues.

Elton John says he's seen pieces of the film, enough to compliment Rami Malek's portrayal as Freddie Mercury, but that's all. If anything, the fact that Malek did such a good job may have reinforced to Elton John the idea that he shouldn't watch the rest of the movie. It might have hit too close to home.

While the similarities between Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman are obvious there is one significant difference. The Freddie Mercury movie was rated PG-13, while the Elton John biopic was rated-R. John told GQ that the success of Rhapsody did not lead to any additional pressure to sanitize his story. What it did lead to was more people being introduced to the music of Queen.

Elton John is likely experiencing a similar resurgence. While Rocketman hasn't been quite the hit Bohemian Rhapsody was, the movie still grossed close to $200 million dollars globally, and it still has a chance at some awards season recognition of its own.

Even though we’re coming up on a year since Bohemian Rhapsody hit theaters, Rami Malek still hangs out with Queen. Unlike some biopics and films about real life people, the band Queen was intimately involved in the production of Bohemian Rhapsody, with active, surviving members Brian May and Roger Taylor serving as executive music producers on the film. This naturally meant that they got to know Rami Malek, who in an Oscar-winning turn portrayed the late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.

After that extremely challenging role playing such a singular musician, Rami Malek maintained his friendship with Queen and in fact, he recently hung out with them at a very special event. The actor recalled:

Rami Malek came out on stage to introduce headliners Queen + Adam Lambert at the Global Citizens Festival on Saturday, September 28. The annual music festival is organized by the Global Poverty Project whose goal it is to extend extreme poverty around the globe. At this special event, Rami Malek not only introduced Queen to the Central Park audience, he also got to once again hang out with Queen.

As Rami Malek told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, he was hanging out with Queen backstage in their dressing room when they asked him to walk out with them. Here he got to slip back in to his Bohemian Rhapsody role once again by doing Freddie Mercury’s walk. He may be out on karaoke for a while, but Rami Malek will still pull out some Freddie Mercury when the occasion calls for it.

Similar to the way Taron Egerton formed a bond with Elton John during and after Rocketman, Rami Malek seems to have formed a lasting bond with the members of Queen. As he told Colbert, introducing the band at the Global Citizens Festival was a privilege and an honor for him and that’s how he feels about being a part of their lives in general.

You can check out a somewhat grainy video of Rami Malek introducing Queen at the Global Citizens Festival in the video below.

Rami Malek does a seriously great job of playing the hype man for Queen here. He seems at ease being stage and thrilled to be introducing Queen. His speech gets the audience completely revved up to see the iconic band.

It’s cool to hear that Rami Malek still hangs out with Queen and hopefully he finally got to take them out for that drink following Bohemian Rhapsody's Golden Globe nominations. The actor seems to truly value the relationship he has with the band and that feeling seems to be mutual as far as I can tell.

In addition to having him introduce the band at this concert, Queen’s Brian May was quite vocal during the film’s run about his belief that Rami Malek deserved an Oscar nomination. He of course got that and more with his Best Actor win.

Rami Malek’s career will continue on its Mister Fahrenheit-like trajectory when he stars as the villain in next year’s James Bond film No Time to Die. That hits theaters on April 8, 2020. Check out our 2020 Release Schedule to see all the big titles filling up next year’s calendar.

After achieving tremendous success in the music and television sides of the entertainment industry, Simon Cowell may be looking to conquer a final frontier: Hollywood. Rumor has it that last year’s smash box office hit and multiple Academy Award-winning film Bohemian Rhapsody is inspiring Simon Cowell to go after an Oscar.

This should be taken with a grain of salt, but according to The Daily Mail, Simon Cowell is looking to shake up his career and ensure the long-term viability of his brand. In order to do that, the 59-year-old apparently wants to make the jump from television to focus on feature films. Not just content to have a Hollywood career though, supposedly the music mogul wants to win an Oscar and has talked openly about his desire to do so.

Bohemian Rhapsody allegedly inspired Simon Cowell, and after seeing the critical, commercial and awards successes of the Freddie Mercury biopic, he is looking at music-related film projects to pursue with the specific goal of winning an Oscar. There is no word as of yet what music-related film projects Simon Cowell might be looking at for his big Oscar play, assuming this rumor is true, of course.

The iron is certainly hot for music films, as the genre is having something of a moment right now. It’s not just Bohemian Rhapsody either; all kinds of music films are doing well in some way or another, and thus there are plenty in the works. A Star is Born was a critical and commercial hit, and this year’s Rocketman enjoyed great reviews and has had modest box office success.

There’s also the acclaimed Yesterday now in theaters and the upcoming Blinded by the Light coming out in August. Not to mention Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis film and the David Bowie biopic Stardust. It would seem that Simon Cowell isn’t the only one that Bohemian Rhapsody inspired and he’ll have to get moving before all the best rock stars are taken, if he’s going the biopic route.

Unless he’s going to take up directing or become an actor, I think the assumption is that Simon Cowell would be going for an Oscar in some kind of producer role. So maybe he’s hoping for a Best Picture win as Executive Producer on a music film. That’s quite ambitious, but it’s nice to have goals and given his successes in other areas of entertainment. It might not be wise to bet against him.

Simon Cowell is best known to most people as the brutally critical and wisecracking British judge from music competition television shows like American Idol, The X Factor and America’s Got Talent. In addition to his roles as an onscreen judge and television producer, Simon Cowell is also an A&R executive with his own record label, Syco Music and he has signed talent like boy band One Direction.

So Simon Cowell definitely has an understanding of the music business that he would bring with him to any music-related film project in pursuit of an Oscar statue. Funnily enough, while Bohemian Rhapsody allegedly inspired Simon Cowell to go after an Oscar, he actually has a tangential connection to Queen.

Adam Lambert first rose to fame on American Idol, probably the singing show Simon Cowell is most well known for. Although he finished as runner-up on American Idol, Adam Lambert has went on to plenty of success. He now collaborates with Queen as lead vocalist and frontman, the role Freddie Mercury once held.

We’ll keep you updated if this rumor proves true and Simon Cowell attaches himself to any music-related feature film projects. In the meantime, check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see what’s headed to theaters this year.

The Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody ends with the rousing Live Aid performance that is electric and emotionally moving and concludes the film on a high note. Countless audience members left the theater feeling positively elated and affirmed, probably queuing up some Queen to listen to on the drive home. But for Brian May’s wife Anita Dobson, Bohemian Rhapsody brought her to tears, as she explained:

While speaking on Loose Women, as reported by Metro, Anita Dobson was mentioning how emotional it was to see Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury during the first day of filming on Bohemian Rhapsody. The actress and singer praised how the Oscar-winning actor truly became the iconic frontman. So when she finally saw a rough cut of Bohemian Rhapsody and that performance, it proved to be an emotionally trying experience.

Rather than end the film with Freddie Mercury’s death and battle with AIDS, Bohemian Rhapsody chose to end on a happy note with the Live Aid concert. That may have brought tears of joy to many an audience member’s eye, but it sounds like Anita Dobson was an emotional wreck and needed to take time to collect herself. This is surely because Anita Dobson actually knew Freddie Mercury in real life.

In watching the film, she was in a way seeing Freddie again, and I imagine that in addition to being reminded of happy memories she was also reminded that he was gone. That understandably made her quite sad. Most people aren’t usually reminded of loved ones that are gone in such a direct manner.

That is testament to the film itself and particularly Rami Malek’s performance that it moved someone who knew Freddie Mercury in such a way. Malek’s performance wasn’t the only one that impressed Anita Dobson though. She was also a fan of Gwilym Lee’s portrayal of her husband, Brian May. Praising his performance, she said:

If anyone knows a person’s most subtle ticks and mannerisms, it’s their spouse. Anita Dobson and Brian May met back in 1986 and got married in 2000. That’s three decades of knowing a person and almost two of marriage, so it says a lot that Gwilym Lee incorporated Brian May’s mannerisms into his performance and was so convincing that he actually impressed his wife.

These are the things that matter most in any sort of biopic. It’s nice to have someone look like the person they’re playing, and Gwilym Lee did look like Brian May in Bohemian Rhapsody, but the most important thing is that they capture the essence of that person, the way they act, how they move and their personalities.

Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to see what’s headed to theaters the rest of this year and keep an eye on CinemaBlend for all the latest movie news.

Taking on the role of one of perhaps the most legendary frontman in music history is no easy task, and Rami Malek had his work cut out for him to become Queen’s Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. But beyond the obvious stuff like learning Freddie’s mannerisms, Rami Malek also had to get into shape and to do that he enlisted the help of celebrity trainer Jay Cardiello. The trainer who has worked with clients like 50 Cent and Kevin Love, explained the goals for Rami Malek saying:

Jay Cardiello is right, if you look at Freddie Mercury’s Live Aid performance, he was wearing a tank top that showed off a muscular and toned physique. But it’s really the physicality of the performance itself that shows those muscles at work and just how ripped the singer really was. For Rami Malek to convincingly play Freddie Mercury and deliver on the climactic performance at the end of the film, he too had to get in shape.

Getting in shape isn’t a one size fits all thing though, and certainly not when the goal is to look and move in a certain way. Freddie Mercury was in shape, but not in the same way Arnold Schwarzenegger or Chris Hemsworth are famous for; his fitness was more function than form. So as Jay Cardiello told Men’s Health, Rami Malek had to put on muscle, but in a smart way.

Freddie Mercury was muscular at Live Aid, but not bulky. Therefore, Rami Malek needed to put on muscle to look the part, but in a way that achieved a similar aesthetic. That means that he didn’t work out like a bodybuilder, lifting a ton of heavy weights to bulk up and increase size.

Instead Jay Cardiello had Rami Malek primarily stick to bodyweight exercises and intervals of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, to pack on lean muscle. Some of the exercises in his program included a single-leg squat to press, breakdancers, stability holds, unilateral rotations and marching rows, all of which you can see in a video on Men’s Health. The result of all this is that Rami Malek packed on the muscle to look like Freddie Mercury did at Live Aid, but the look wasn’t the only goal.

In addition to making sure Rami Malek looked the part physically, this program was also designed to make sure that he could move like Freddie. So the unilateral movements of some of those exercises were meant to improve Rami’s athleticism and balance so he could perform on stage with the same kind of charismatic physicality that Freddie Mercury did. The result of all that training is a muscular and athletic physique that’s not just for show.

You can’t argue with results since Rami Malek netted a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Bohemian Rhapsody. Who knows, those muscles may also come in handy for his next part as the villain in Bond 25.

Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to prep for this summer’s biggest movies and for all the latest in movie news, stay tuned to CinemaBlend.

The Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was an undisputed smash hit in 2018, winning awards and receiving huge praise. So far in 2019, Rocketman, about the great Elton John has been… less of a juggernaut, but is still a wonderful movie worth checking out. Of course, these aren’t the first music-inspired biopics and there are a lot of them out there worth your time and money.

It's hard to pick and choose the most worth, but I ultimately decided to limit this list to five, which is tough, because it means leaving out some legendary movies, like Sid & Nancy, about Sid Vicious, Amadeus, about Mozart, The Doors, about…well…The Doors and many more.

These are five that we think are worth watching the most, depending on your mood and what time of night it is, because sometimes, the best ones are the ones you see when you are up too late and getting into trouble, just like the subjects in the films.

Straight Outta Compton (2015)

Yeah, there has been some controversy surrounding this, just as there is for many biopics, but this fantastic film about the legendary rap group N.W.A. has everything anyone could want from a great biopic.

It’s got an outstanding cast, featuring Ice Cube’s son, O’Shea Jackson II, who could be Ice Cube’s twin, they look so much alike. It brings in all the best music from N.W.A.'s short run at the top of the rap game in the late '80s. It has the conflict between band members, specifically going into the legendary feud that erupted between Dr. Dre and Eazy-E that forced the group to break up. And it has a happy ending, of sorts, with Dre reconciling with Eazy before Eazy died of AIDS.

Sure, there are some serious “artistic liberties” taken and there are some very important details left out that many critics point out should have been included, but that happens in a lot of movies like this and that shouldn’t take anyway from anyone’s enjoyment, as long as they know the whole story.

Love & Mercy (2015)

Brian Wilson is a musical genius. He is rightfully often cited as changing rock and roll from a teenage pastime to a serious artistic endeavor with his work in the mid-sixties, specifically with the legendary and amazing Pet Sounds album by his band, The Beach Boys. Love & Mercy is a creative and interesting take on his story and one of the best biopics of this decade.

Love & Mercy splits Brian Wilson’s story up into two important parts of his fascinating life. The first during that amazingly creative time in the mid-sixties when he wrote the album Pet Sounds and the masterpiece “pocket symphony” known as “Good Vibration.” Paul Dano plays the enigmatic artists at his most creative and then as he first descends into mental illness and drug abuse.

The Dano/Wilson scenes bounce back and forth with scenes of Brian Wilson in the 1980s, played by John Cusack, as his mental illness is being taken advantage of by his sketchy doctor, Eugene Landy, played spectacularly by Paul Giamatti. Love & Mercy is a wonderful story of genius lost and redemption found.

I’m Not There (2007)

Since he first moved to New York from Minnesota in 1961, Bob Dylan has set out to create a mythos surrounding himself. He’s notoriously vague and dodgy in interviews and he has spent a considerable amount of time deliberately confusing the public in regards to his history. For all of his lyrical genius, his constant artist re-invention and persona-shifting is just as big a part of his sizable legacy and I’m Not There does nothing to lessen that.

For starters, I’m Not There stars six different actors as Dylan: Christian Bale, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Cate Blanchett, Ben Whishaw and Heath Ledger. They all represent the shape-shifting Dylan in different eras. Like Dylan’s autobiography, the movie isn’t linear, nor is it completely true to the facts, because those things don’t matter to Bob Dylan. Instead, what you get is a series of vignettes that try to explain the myth of Dylan, not the true story of Dylan.

There is no curtain being pulled up to reveal the wizard behind it, if anything, there are just more curtains falling down around the legend’s true story. The myth of Dylan, like the myth of the poets he idolizes, including Dylan Thomas, is what is important here. His art is far more important that what he likes for breakfast and his personas have always been the key to his best art.

Walk The Line (2005)

Unlike I'm Not There, Walk The Line is a very straightforward telling of probably the greatest country artist of all-time, Johnny Cash, played in an Oscar-nominated performance by Joaquin Phoenix. It doesn’t get bogged down in myths, nor is it over-stylized or complicated. It’s just an old-fashioned, brutally honest, and forthright story, just like the Man In Black himself was.

At its heart, it’s a love story. It may follow Johnny Cash from his childhood to superstardom, but his beloved wife and oft musical partner June Carter Cash, played by Reese Witherspoon in an Oscar-WINNING performance, is just as important to the story. And what a beautiful love story it is. Eventually. After the ring of fire they are forced to go through before coming out on top in the end.

What makes Walk The Line so great is its brutal honesty about June and Johnny’s relationship, which for years in the beginning was a real rollercoaster due to Johnny’s drug abuse. The film is also completely open about that, his pill addiction and his alcoholism. It’s all there, the naked truth about one of the most influential artist of all time and how his partner truly was a partner, not content to watch Johnny squander his immense talent under the burden of drugs and drink. The movie ends with June finally accepting Johnny’s marriage proposal and if that doesn’t leave you in tears, nothing will.

The Dirt (2019)

Motley Crue is completely over-the-top, ridiculous, stupid, and really, really awesome. And so is the 2019 biopic about the group, streaming on Netflix, called The Dirt, based on the completely over-the-top, ridiculous, stupid, and really, really awesome autobiography of the same name the band published in 2001. Sure, there are better biopics out there, but when you’re home on a Friday night with nothing to do, it doesn’t get better than streaming The Dirt.

In a really weird way, it is kind of the same as I’m Not There in that The Dirt is really about perpetuating the mythos of Motley Crue as an drug-addled, drunk, sex-addicted bunch of insane troublemakers that figured out a way to never have to stop being teenagers than it is about telling the whole truth.

The truth is in there, somewhere, maybe. There are certainly some of the harsh truths they faced, like Nikki Sixx’s heroin addiction and Vince Neil killing his friend “Razzle” Dingley, drummer for Hanoi Rocks, in a drunk driving crash in Hollywood in 1984. The story is full of sobering moments, but really, the party never stops.

Five great musicians and bands and five amazing biopics, each uniquely great for different reasons. While it’s sad that La Bamba about Richie Valens missed the list as did the really horribly amazing CBGB with Alan Rickman as Hilly Kristal (like The Dirt we celebrate its glorious badness), these are five that won’t disappoint, for sure.

In director Dexter Fletcher’s musical-fantasy biopic Rocketman, the story of Elton John’s origins, triumphs, and struggles in the music industry are shown in connection to his relationship with then-manager John Reid. Played by Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden, Reid is played off as basically the villain in the story of Elton John’s rise to fame, and his attempts to cope with its pressures through drugs and drink.

What makes for even more of an interesting note is the fact that last year, another big ticket biopic highlighted the contributions of John Reid to the music industry. In the case of Bohemian Rhapsody though, there’s a big difference with John Reid’s depiction in the very same film that Dexter Fletcher helped direct not too long before jumping into Rocketman.

Comparing the two versions of John Reid is an interesting exercise, especially when discussing how both films tackle their very similar subject matter. With that in mind, here’s the full story of why John Reid is in both Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody, and how he’s portrayed in both films.

John Reid’s Connection To Both Elton John And Freddie Mercury

As a musical manager, John Reid handled two of the hottest clients anyone could have ever gotten their hands on in the 1970s: Elton John and Queen. In the case of Elton John, despite Rocketman’s sentiments that John was free from his manager’s grasp by the end of the film, the truth is that John Reid actually managed Elton John from his signing in 1970 until 1998, just a year short of his retirement from music management.

His tenure with Queen was shorter lived, and apparently not as dramatic as his firing in Bohemian Rhapsody was depicted. Serving as the manager to the band between 1975 and 1978, the parting between the band and John Reid was mutually friendly. Though these portraits of John Reid and his service to the music industry do draw interesting contrasts to how both Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody use him for their narrative purposes.

How John Reid Is Portrayed In Rocketman

In Rocketman, Richard Madden’s John Reid is initially shown as a romantic figure whom Taron Egerton’s Elton John falls naively in love with. Eventually, their relationship sours as Reid turns into a character more focused on his business empire who enjoys making money off of representing John’s career, rather than truly loving Elton. By the end of the film, Elton John seems to have made peace with their relationship not being an authentic one, and learns to love himself again.

Were a biopic to have a need for a villain, Rocketman’s John Reid definitely qualifies as one. With his seemingly cold-hearted demeanor when dealing with Elton John, particularly as his excesses and insecurity consume him in the film, he’s made out to be the big bad of the film’s story. While his portrayal in Bohemian Rhapsody isn’t all sunshine and rainbows either, it certainly paints him to a lesser degree of villainy.

How John Reid Is Portrayed In Bohemian Rhapsody

Portrayed by fellow Game of Thrones alum Aiden Gillen, Bohemian Rhapsody’s John Reid is a gentler figure than shown in Rocketman. Meeting the band in the now infamously edited pub scene, Reid seems to get the cut of the band’s jib. For most of the film, John Reid is seen as sort of a yes man to the band, as he defends their artistic vision in front of Mike Myers’ Ray Foster, as the latter tries to stifle the vision of both “Bohemian Rhapsody” and the album it called its home, A Night At The Opera.

Though when the time comes to pick an alternate single when Bohemian Rhapsody’s titular track is in danger, this version of John Reid doesn’t shy away from throwing out other options. Then, of course, there’s the big firing scene, where Rami Malek’s Freddie Mercury fires John Reid for even suggesting he go solo in the name of a lucrative offer. Which, as was pointed out previously, was debunked by Queen’s following manager Jim “Miami” Beach. The parting, according to Beach, was on really friendly terms.

Why Rocketman And Bohemian Rhapsody Never Crossed Over

Now some of you may be thinking about how fun a crossover between both Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody could have been. Two huge musical biopics, with John Reid adjacent to the action and taking place during the same era, might have been a shoo-in for at least one crossover scene. Even more so when accounting the fact Dexter Fletcher worked as a director on both. But that prospect was dismissed by Fletcher himself for a pretty sound reason. He noted:

As much of a musical fantasy as Rocketman is supposed to be, a wink and a nod cameo by Rami Malek reprising the role of Freddie Mercury would have been just a hair too much. Even Fletcher himself stated that he didn’t want the audience to think that he was all of a sudden creating a musical biopic cinematic universe. Just as easily as the thought of Mercury and John Reid toasting Elton John in one of the film’s dour restaurant scenes had occurred, the concept was dashed, and history took its natural course.

With two varying depictions of his career in the ‘70s on screen, John Reid’s legacy as a musical manager means very different things depending on which film you’re running with. In terms of Bohemian Rhapsody, he was a bit of an overly ambitious man who knew how to play both sides so as to smooth over negotiations on both sides. While Rocketman shows Reid as more of an icy businessman who isn’t afraid to push Elton John to his limits and has him performing shows even shortly after a heart attack.

Biopics show their subjects in the best light possible to tell their story, and both films have done just that. So while neither may adhere solely to the letter of history, they’ve used the real events that John Reid was a part of, and turned them into box office victory.

Beyond just being two films about musical icons, last year’s Bohemian Rhapsody and the recently released Rocketman share something else in common: director Dexter Fletcher. Fletcher finished the former film about Queen and Freddie Mercury after Bryan Singer’s firing and directed the latter film about Elton John from the start. Because of this connection, Rocketman could have contained a wild Bohemian Rhapsody crossover, as Dexter Fletcher explained:

Dexter Fletcher is right in what he told Gay Star News, it would have been amazing to see Rami Malek’s Freddie Mercury interacting with Taron Egerton’s Elton John, even if it were only something as small as a wave between the two. It's a neat idea that would have been a great little nod to Bohemian Rhapsody; an Easter egg that I imagine many fans would have freaked out about if it were hidden as a surprise in Rocketman.

Such a crossover wouldn’t have been forced either and actually would have made some sense. That’s because of the character of John Reid, who provides the link between Queen and Elton John because he was the music manager for the former and the music manager and lover of the latter. Ironically, he was played by Game of Thrones vets in both movies, Aidan Gillen in Bohemian Rhapsody and Richard Madden in Rocketman.

Therefore this scene wouldn’t have been out of the realm of possibility historically, and you can understand Dexter Fletcher’s temptation to work with Oscar winner Rami Malek again for a fun crossover like this. Yet, as the director said, this cameo did not come to pass. But it is not that Rami Malek didn’t want to or because of some sort of scheduling conflict.

Dexter Fletcher never asked Rami Malek because he ultimately chose not to include such a cameo in the film, the reason being that as he said, it would be “too knowing.” While seeing Rami Malek’s Freddie in Rocketman would have been a hugely crowd-pleasing moment, Dexter Fletcher’s reasoning makes sense. Less a winking reference, this cameo may have come off a bit more hammer over the head.

It’s the kind of thing that would have taken you out of the movie for something that in the end was unnecessary. And having seen Rocketman, the scene Dexter Fletcher mentioned and when the cameo would have happened, where Elton is having dinner with his mother, is more serious in nature. A Rami Malek cameo as Freddie Mercury in that moment may have been tonally inconsistent with the rest of the scene.

Still, it would have been neat to see Freddie Mercury pop up at some point in Rocketman. Dexter Fletcher said he wasn’t trying to make a cinematic universe, but it is kind of a fun idea. If John Reid weren’t played by different actors in the two films, he could have acted as the Nick Fury to the musical Avengers. Maybe if Bohemian Rhapsody somehow gets a sequel, Taron Egerton can show up.

Rocketman is now playing in theaters. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to prep for all of the biggest film’s headed your way this summer.

Rocketman has no choice but to be compared with the huge recent hit that was Bohemian Rhapsody. Honestly, there are worse problems. When it comes to the opening box office, the Elton John biopic doesn't quite hold a candle in the wind to killer Queen, but no one expected it to.

Rocketman is rated R and made the bold choice to fully explore Elton John's sex and drugs lifestyle. The movie shows sex scenes between men, and that's still seen as controversial in a few markets, which limits the overall audience. The filmmakers figured that would be the case, but made the decision anyway to be true to Elton's story.

Still, Rocketman actually over-performed from its initial projection of a $20 million domestic opening. It opened to an estimated $25 million opposite very stiff competition. Rocketman opened in third place at the U.S./Canada market, and it has already made more than $30 million overseas at this point for a current worldwide total of $56,200,000, per Box Office Mojo.

Bohemian Rhapsody, on the other hand, had a November 2018 opening weekend of $51 million at the domestic box office.

Taron Egerton plays Elton John in the new biopic and he said he'd be happy to make even half of Bohemian Rhapsody's money. Rocketman is not likely to make that much overall, but the domestic opening was about half of Bohemian's domestic opening. So there you go.

Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman semi-share a director in Dexter Fletcher. Fletcher directed all of Rocketman and the very end of Bohemian Rhapsody after Bryan Singer was fired.

Critics have been kinder to Rocketman than Bohemian Rhapsody, but fans gave the Rami Malek/Freddie Mercury movie an A CinemaScore vs. A- for Taron Egerton/Elton John. The Rotten Tomatoes Audience Scores are just about the same so far, but Bohemian has way more overall ratings, so there's no way to compare that fairly quite yet.

Bohemian Rhapsody just kept making money week after week, especially overseas, and also picked up some Oscars. Bohemian Rhapsody made $216.4 million at the domestic box office, which is impressive enough, but it picked up a staggering $687 million at foreign markets for an overall total of $903,655,259. No one saw that coming, and no one expects to see it again anytime soon.

A Star Is Born was also an R-rated music movie -- although not a music biopic -- and it made $42.9 million in its October 2018 opening. Worldwide, it went on to make $434 million.

Rocketman has controversy hurdles to pass, though, when it comes to markets like Russia where gay content is censored. It's possible the censorship will make some fans more eager to buy tickets to support the film anyway in protest. Who knows. As of now, Paramount says it's releasing the film uncut around the world, but local distributors follow their own laws.

Will Rocketman see Oscar glory like Bohemian Rhapsody? The release date will hurt it there, since Rocketman is likely to be lost in the pack once the fall movies arrive. But we'll see. Keep up with everything heading to theaters this year with our 2019 movie release guide.

Although it has a bevy of awards to its name and made almost $1 billion at the box office, Bohemian Rhapsody has faced quite a bit of criticism. The aspect of the film that has perhaps received the most criticism is the editing, particularly in the scene where Queen first meets manager John Reid, played by Mr. Chaos is a Ladder himself, Aidan Gillen. And that scene has been held up as evidence that Bohemian Rhapsody did not deserve all of its many accolades.

The scene, which was the subject of a viral video that garnered millions of views, was mocked for the seemingly haphazard way it was edited-- with extremely rapid and jarring cuts. The film’s editor (and composer) John Ottman, who won an Oscar for his editing, is well aware of the criticism of the scene and in a recent interview he dropped an F-bomb over it. John Ottman said:

Wow, John Ottman might have earned an Oscar for his trouble, but he is clearly still frustrated at how that scene turned out and the ensuing backlash, which has naturally landed on him as the film’s editor. As he told Epicleff Media’s Score: The Podcast, he was so frustrated that he actually went back in the editing bay just to recut the scene and see it again how he originally intended.

That seems to be the major source of frustration for the Oscar winner. He has spoken before about how the scene makes him want to put a bag over his head and the reason for that is that it is not what he wanted it to be. He is not proud of that scene because, as he said, that is not how he originally cut it.

John Ottman may have been the editor on Bohemian Rhapsody but that doesn’t mean that he had complete and total authority on how the movie was cut. Although he went on to say that the director change was not the culprit behind the scene, John Ottman was still constantly getting notes from the studio about the edit.

John Ottman admits was the final cut of that mocked patio scene was his, the result of “too many cooks”, and notes from the studio that forced him to shave down the scene. The studio was worried that the first act was getting too long and it wanted to maintain the pace of the film without slowing down for the scene where Queen meets John Reid.

Describing the effect that had on the scene, John Ottman said:

So what happened was John Ottman had to take a scene that was much longer, and edit it down with quicker pacing-- all while maintaining pivotal elements of the original scene. The end result of those somewhat opposing objectives is the action-movie/montage pacing of the mocked patio conversation scene.

Around Oscar time there was talk that John Ottman basically saved Bohemian Rhapsody in the editing room and given what he said here, I’d be very curious what his ‘Editor’s Cut’ of the film would look like. It seems unlikely we’ll ever get that, but maybe one day he’ll get to do his “fucking dissertation” on the effect studio notes and too many cooks can have on a movie.

While that scene may always be a thorn in John Ottman’s side, he still was a big part of a massively successful movie and he got his first Oscar out of it, so I’d say it’s a net win.

Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for all the latest movie news and check out our 2019 Release Schedule to keep track of the biggest movies you can look forward to this summer.

In addition to the plethora of statues to its name, Bohemian Rhapsody was a box office success in a way that people could not have predicted, a phenomenon that ended its box office run at just over $900 million worldwide, making it the most successful music biopic ever and the 6th biggest film of 2018. On a budget of $52 million, you might think that kind of return would make many involved with the Freddie Mercury biopic filthy rich.

Alas, that may not have been entirely the case. In fact, contrary to earlier reports that Bohemian Rhapsody had made Queen richer than the Queen, the band’s lead guitarist Brian May has revealed that no such windfall from the film ever materialized. He said:

That is a bit of a bummer to hear, considering we know that Brian May and Queen were closely involved in the development of Bohemian Rhapsody for over a decade. Brian May and Roger Taylor both received Executive Music Producer credits on a film that went on to make close to a billion dollars, so you might expect them to reap some financial rewards on the backend.

However, as of now Brian May told Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2’s The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show that he and Queen still haven’t ‘earned a penny’ from Bohemian Rhapsody. Without knowing the exact terms and nature of the band’s deal with the studio and the various parties involved, it’s impossible to say that Brian May and Queen are owed money for Bohemian Rhapsody.

Nevertheless, Brian May’s framing of the matter makes it seem like, given the success of the film, there was some expectation on Queen’s part there would be something extra coming their way. Brian May did allude to the fact that there are a lot of people who the film’s profits go to first, so maybe the money is still being divvied up and Queen’s checks are on the way.

Perhaps the stories about Queen’s getting rich off the film have less to do with liquidity and more to do with how the film increased the band’s wealth. Even if they haven’t made a cent off of Bohemian Rhapsody yet, the movie did a lot for Queen’s exposure and increased streams and sales of the band’s albums, also presumably driving interest for upcoming shows. Bohemian Rhapsody has more people listening to Queen’s music and that has to be good for the bottom line.

Although Queen allegedly isn’t directly profiting from the film yet, some people and entities are. Bohemian Rhapsody’s success did help 21st Century Fox’s financials in a big way. Also, reports have indicated Freddie Mercury’s longtime friend Mary Austin, portrayed by Lucy Boynton in the film, is expected to have earned $60+ million for the film and his sister Kashmira Bulsara reportedly earned $25 million. Even fired director Bryan Singer is expected to have walked away with $40 million for his efforts on the film.

Bohemian Rhapsody is now on home video. Check out our 2019 release schedule for all of this year’s biggest movies, including another music biopic, Rocketman, which star Taron Egerton is hoping makes even half of what Bohemian Rhapsody did.

Rocketman is not Bohemian Rhapsody. Taron Egerton is aware of it. There are easy comparisons, of course, in that Egerton is playing Elton John in a music biopic the same way Rami Malek played Freddie Mercury. They even have director Dexter Fletcher in common, since Fletcher stepped in to finish Bohemian Rhapsody after Bryan Singer was fired.

Since Bohemian Rhapsody made a mind-boggling $903,175,016 at the box office, off a projected production budget just over $50 million, it's a ridiculously high bar for the next music biopic to face.

Taron Egerton was candid about the comparisons, just hoping for the best:

True. As Taron Egerton suggested in his quote to THR, half of Bohemian Rhapsody's record-breaking money is still about half a billion dollars worldwide, a success by any metric for a film of this size. The 29-year-old actor is clearly keen to advance his career. He's known to many as Eggsy from the Kingsman movies, and also the titular Eddie the Eagle. He also has some singing experience from the movie Sing. And he was the lead of the notorious 2018 bomb Robin Hood.

All it takes is one movie to launch your career -- just ask Rami Malek, who was best known from Mr. Robot before being shot to fame, picking up a Best Actor Oscar for Freddie Mercury, and now playing a Bond villain.

Rocketman will inevitably be judged next to Best Picture-nominated Bohemian Rhapsody, but they aren't exactly apples to apples. For one thing, Rocketman is Rated R, vs. Bohemian Rhapsody at PG-13. They are also telling their stories in very different ways. Rocketman has a lot of sex and drugs -- and that sex is between men, with Taron Egerton's Elton having sex scenes with Richard Madden's John Reid.

Apparently that's one reason why Rocketman stalled at Universal. Producer Matthew Vaughn recalled a conversation with studio chairman Donna Langley:

Despite reports that Paramount asked director Dexter Fletcher to tone down the film -- to make it more marketable in a huge box office like China, which usually bans any gay scenes -- the filmmakers say Rocketman still depicts Elton John coming to terms with his sexuality and also shows his issues with substance abuse.

Another difference between Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman is Elton John is still with us (unlike Freddie Mercury) and was able to be there for the film and give his blessing. He praised Taron Egerton's performance to THR, saying the film made him forget it was Taron up there, he thought he was watching himself. "That's the highest compliment I can tell you."

Rocketman is opening in theaters on May 31, which puts it squarely up against Godzilla: King of the Monsters. It's going to have to grab onto the rest of the audience and hope to leg out from there. Early tracking put Rocketman's opening weekend around $20 million.

If Rocketman gets good reviews -- from fans even more than critics -- it could theoretically enjoy success on a level next to Bohemian Rhapsody, which just kept quietly making money week after week until we all turned around and it was knocking on the door of $1 billion worldwide. Most of that money came from overseas, though -- especially Japan, which just went crazy for Queen -- and it's much less likely that Rocketman will be embraced by the foreign box office in the same way. But we'll see. Keep up with all of the 2019 movies ahead with our handy release schedule.

It’s a saying that’s thrown out to symbolize the ultimate in largess. “They have more money than the queen.” Well, in the case of rock group Queen, fittingly enough, they can make that claim rather truthfully from this moment forward. And they can thank the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody for their ability to do so.

Thanks to the runaway hit success of the Academy Award-winning story of Freddie Mercury and his bandmates' rise to the top, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon are all estimated at being worth £445 million, which is roughly $583 million in U.S. currency. Considering how much Bohemian Rhapsody made, it’s not all that surprising that their wealth should jump so high. For comparison, Queen Elizabeth II is currently worth £370m, which translates to about $484.6 million.

On the basis of the film’s success as a theatrical product, the $902.5 million international grosses against the $50 million production budget make Bohemian Rhapsody something of a megahit. With Rami Malek’s performance as Freddie Mercury giving the film a lot of good notices, and the fan reaction to the film being overwhelmingly positive, the monetary success of the film alone would only be the start to what’s fueled the surviving members’ fortunes to rise.

Not to mention that the film is now the highest grossing musical biopic of the world! With a successful musical movie comes even more successful ancillary markets, both in merchandising and record sales. Undoubtedly Bohemian Rhapsody’s success in theaters had folks walking out of the theater, humming their favorite Queen songs on the way to their cars and eventually primed to buy their favorite albums, as well as any sort of merchandise they feel can show their fandom for the film.

Let's also remember that with Bohemian Rhapsody’s title track becoming the most streamed song in the 20th century, that’s certainly a mark of success that is only another feather in Queen’s cap. It’s certainly the sort of success that would make a musical act keen on replicating that sort of success, and you can imagine how this news will make the band keen on jumpstarting talks for that proposed sequel that has been flying around ever since Bohemian Rhapsody first took off.

This news has been announced ahead of its publication in The Times’ annual “Rich List,” which will be running in the upcoming Sunday edition. And after the results putting Queen ahead of Queen Elizabeth II, it might be a good idea for the royal sovereign to get a good agent and start cashing in herself.

Maybe with the right sort of wrangling, the Queen could get herself a piece of future seasons of Netflix’s The Crown. Maybe she could even try to put together her own package for an authorized biographical film, starring a Hollywood talent that could lead it to awards and monetary glory.

Certainly if England’s greatest musical acts can do it, then so could Queen Elizabeth II herself. That is, if she’s even bothered by this news in the first place. With a new grandson freshly brought into the world, and the duties of being England’s queen still on her plate, this may not really matter to her. Any way the wind blows, this is amazing news for Queen, and probably an interesting footnote in history for The Queen.

Bohemian Rhapsody is available on home video and streaming in all major formats.

Last year, Bohemian Rhapsody dethroned 2015’s Straight Outta Compton to become the highest grossing music biopic of all time with its $902 million worldwide box office haul. It’s no surprise a musical epic about the formation, struggles and success of Queen was a blockbuster, the British rock band is one of the most recognized acts across the globe.

The movie also found triumph stacking up a ton of distinguished accolades during award season despite average reviews from critics about the film’s “paint-by-numbers” approach to the band’s bold legacy. Overall, Bohemian Rhapsody was nominated for 57 awards in over 30 ceremonies during the star-studded movie season and was decorated with 21 total wins.

Now that the gold glitter has settled from Oscar season, let’s break down some of the movie’s biggest award wins. Pro tip: Play Queen’s “We Are The Champions” as you read on:

Bohemian Rhapsody At The 2019 Golden Globes

While Bohemian Rhapsody was in award conversation from the beginning, bets weren’t high on the biopic taking the cake for award season’s highest merits until it took home some key trophies at the Golden Globes during the Andy Samberg and Sandra Oh hosted movie and television show recognized by the Hollywood Foreign Press. The movie was nominated for two awards and won them both. Take a look:

Rami Malek offered up a transformative performance of a lifetime as rock icon Freddie Mercury, not just donning fake teeth to resemble the frontman, but replicating his mannerisms and his on-stage energy (almost shot-for-shot in the film’s final Live Aid scene). He won over Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born), Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate), Lucas Hedges (Boy Erased) and John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman).

Bohemian Rhapsody was nominated for the most distinguished award of the night “Best Picture” alongside Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, Spike Lee’s BlackKklansman, Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk and Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born in the drama category over the comedy/musical category, which Green Book won for.

It was certainly a surprise win, especially since the movie has the lowest Rotten Tomato score of 61% among its fellow nominees in the 89% - 97% range. The win showed the movie was being taken seriously by voters going forward gave the movie a huge boost for the remainder of Oscar season.

Bohemian Rhapsody At the 2019 Screen Actors Guild Awards

A few weeks later, the movie about rock’s “Killer Queen” took the 25th SAG Awards with similar accolades then what had just won at the Golden Globes on the board for the film: recognition for Malek and the award show’s own version of “Best Picture” – “Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture”. Here’s what Bohemian Rhapsody won that night:

He did it again. The Mr. Robot actor even won over Christian Bale’s Dick Cheney performance, who won in the comedy Best Actor category at the Golden Globes this time around, really proving he could sweep this whole thing. The film’s other nomination went to the cast of Black Panther who made history as the first Marvel film to receive such accolade and the highest-grossing film to ever win the SAG award.

Bohemian Rhapsody At the 2019 BAFTA Awards

The Queen movie then braved the British Academy of Film and Television Arts award show at Royal Albert Hall in London with a whopping seven nominations in the running including Best Costume Design, Best Make Up/Hair, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Sound, Best Leading Actor and Outstanding British Film of the Year. Check out which one’s the movie won below:

Once again, no other male actor could beat out Rami’s Freddie Mercury portrayal. This time the movie was also recognized for “Best Sound” for all the work that was put into creating a realistic portrayal of various Queen performances, using a mixture of Freddie’s voice, Rami’s and even an expert Queen-sounding YouTube star. This award gave Bohemian Rhapsody a leg up in one technical category going into the Oscars, though Netflix’s Roma and The Favourite primarily won over the movie in other categories.

The 2019 Academy Awards Bohemian Rhapsody Won

Then came Hollywood’s biggest night and the official cap on award season: The Oscars. Bohemian Rhapsody’s award reign opened up the hostless show with a energetic kickoff performance by Queen and new frontman Adam Lambert. The movie had five awards on the line that night. After Bohemian Rhapsody had previously not been considered as an Oscar’s favorite it's gained traction from ceremonies gave the movie a overall triumphant conclusion.

Bohemian Rhapsody won everyone of their nominations except for Best Picture, which was now infamously given to Green Book. The film swept a lot of the Academy’s technical awards, with more nods to its use of sound and most controversially for its Film Editing, which has been since criticized for its whiplash cuts in one particular restaurant scene.

Rami Malek’s performance as Freddie Mercury is clearly the MVP of Bohemian Rhapsody, which early critics of the film still undeniably praised, even if they were bothered by other elements of the movie. Take a look at the actor’s last hurrah “Another One Bites The Dust” first Oscar win from the big night below:

What a success story Bohemian Rhapsody was! The film itself went through its own roadblocks before hitting all these milestones such as Bryan Singer’s firing as director late in the project’s filming and it received early criticism for not exploring all the facets of the band. Now looking back, Bohemian Rhapsody is a grand celebration of the late rock icon Freddie Mercury, his Queen band mates and the lasting impact of their music and story.

It is good to be Rami Malek right now. The actor was the lead in Bohemian Rhapsody, one of 2018’s most successful films, for which he won a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and an Oscar for his performance as Freddie Mercury. On top of that he’s dating his gorgeous co-star. Yet, he might never have gotten the role of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody if it weren’t for his breakout role in USA’s Mr. Robot. According to Rami Malek:

It’s impossible to know for sure what would have happened, but at least as far as Rami Malek is concerned, his current career success, epitomized by Bohemian Rhapsody, is attributable to his role as Elliot Alderson on Mr. Robot. As he told ET, Sam Esmail’s mind-bending show gave him visibility and a compelling character with whom he could show the world what he was capable of.

Prior to Mr. Robot, Rami Malek had plenty of credits to his name, but he himself wasn’t an established name by any stretch. His roles were mostly on TV shows and his biggest film credits were in the Night at the Museum movies, as well as taking roles in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 2 and in smaller films like The Master and Short Term 12. Mr. Robot was Rami Malek’s first big starring role and it put him on the map in a way he wasn’t before.

Mr. Robot was a huge hit in its first season and was watercooler TV that had people talking. Rami Malek’s work on the show got people’s attention and it is possible that his presence in a buzzed about TV show put him on the right people’s radar. He believes that eventually snowballed into him landing the role of Freddie Mercury, a role that has changed his life. Sometimes all it takes is that breakthrough performance to get the ball rolling.

Rami Malek’s newfound success isn’t just limited to Bohemian Rhapsody and his award-winning performance as Freddie Mercury; the actor, now a name with a golden statue attached to it, is carrying that good fortune forward. Next year he joins a star-studded voice cast as Chee-Chee, opposite Robert Downey Jr.’s John Doolittle in The Voyage of Doctor Dolittle.

The actor also joins one of cinema’s most storied franchises as the villain in the as yet unnamed Bond 25. As Bohemian Rhapsody propels his career into the theatrical realm, Rami Malek will return one last time to the role of Elliot Alderson, to which he credits so much of his success, when Mr. Robot airs its fourth and final season later this year on USA. And of course, there's always the off-chance Bohemian Rhapsody could get a sequel.

We’ll keep you updated on what Rami Malek is working on next and in the meantime, check out our 2019 release schedule to gear up for all of this summer’s biggest movies.

Mamma mia, this movie can't stop winning! Bohemian Rhapsody came out November 2, 2018, but here we are in April 2019 and it's still picking up cash around the world.

The Queen movie was made off a reported production budget of $52 million and currently has a worldwide total of $901,417,909. It's amazing. This troubled movie is pushing a billion. It isn't likely to get there, or even much closer than this, but who saw it even getting here?

Bohemian Rhapsody's current totals are $216,217,834 from the domestic North American (U.S./Canada) box office and a very strong $685,200,075 from the foreign box office, per Box Office Mojo.

As THR noted, a late run in China (with censored scenes) and popular play in Japan helped push the movie over the $900 million edge this weekend. China just gave the Rami Malek movie $13.9 million, but so far it's really Japan that has stepped up. Bohemian Rhapsody has made $114,658,629 so far in Japan alone. Apparently it has become something of a cultural phenomenon in Japan, bringing new life and popularity to Queen.

Bohemian Rhapsody is already the highest-grossing music biopic of all time, and it's now 20th Century Fox's No. 4 title of all time, if you don't adjust for inflation.

It was the sixth highest grossing movie of 2018, worldwide. Sixth may not sound that impressive, but it definitely is when you consider its peers -- Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Incredibles 2, and Aquaman. Bohemian topped the worldwide grosses of Venom, Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Deadpool 2, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Ready Player One.

All of those movies had pretty massive action blockbuster budgets and ambitions -- except Bohemian, which was "just" a music biopic made for under $55 million.

Bohemian Rhapsody was also a big winner on the 2018-2019 awards circuit, which surprised the critics who never understood any of the love for the film. Bohemian won four Oscars -- including Best Actor for Rami Malek, plus Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing. The movie itself, nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, won Best Motion Picture – Drama at the the Golden Globe Awards.

Bryan Singer directed most of the film, and will still reportedly make some good money from it, but he was fired in December 2017. Dexter Fletcher was hired toward the end to complete the film. That led to some scene reordering and at least one editing issue.

Queen and the late Freddie Mercury's family should also pick up quite a bit of money from Bohemian Rhapsody's impressive box office run. And while that run is winding down, it's clearly not over yet. Will 2019 have another success story like Bohemian Rhapsody? We'll see. Keep up with everything headed to theaters this year with our 2019 movie guide.

It’s no secret that Bohemian Rhapsody was one of the most triumphant champions of this past award season, especially at the box office, where the Queen biopic made about $900 million worldwide. That’s a lot of money going around that the late Freddie Mercury may not get to bask in, but his family will get to share a bit of the film’s success with their own cut of earnings.

When the Queen frontman passed in 1991, he left 50% of his future earnings and London mansion from Queen to Mary Austin, the “love of his life” and longtime friend. The other 50% was divided among his parents (who have since passed) and sister Kashmira Bulsara. According to Sunday Express, this puts Austin’s earnings for Bohemian Rhapsody at least at $60 million and his sister’s at $25 million. The remaining members of Queen may make $90 million each thanks to the phenomenon the movie about their band’s life achieved.

Mary Austin, played by Lucy Boynton, had a significant role in Bohemian Rhapsody as it tracked their longtime friendship that began as a love story that shifted as Freddie started to embrace his sexuality. Though the their romance had a falling out, Austin looked to be a constant friend in the frontman’s life and was even present in Bohemian Rhapsody’s epic conclusion that recreated their iconic Live Aid performance.

The role of Freddie’s sister in Bohemian Rhapsody was small, as the family moments centered on his complicated relationship with his father. Kashmira did get a chance to witness Rami Malek in action as her brother. Here’s what the initial exchange played out from the words of Malek:

While it was a strange experience for Kashmira at first, she seemed to have embraced Malek as Freddie. Here’s what Freddie’s sister said thought about Bohemian Rhapsody:

Oh… and she gets a sweet Bohemian Rhapsody check too! It is nice to see some of the key players in Freddie Mercury’s life are getting to share in the success of the telling of his life, which had a mix of highs and lows. It must have been an interesting experience to watch some events of their own life play out on the big screen and it certainly seemed like it was an emotional journey to watch it come to life and be so warmly received.

Bohemian Rhapsody is undeniably one of the biggest hits of the last year. Bryan Singer's Freddie Mercury biopic may have had some controversy surrounding it, but the musical blockbuster ultimately made a ton of money at the box office, and was an Awards Season favorite. Unfortunately, some controversy continues, especially as the project was brought to China for the first time.

In order for Bohemian Rhapsody to hit theaters for Chinese moviegoers, the movie was edited down, with scenes and dialogue regarding Freddie Mercury's sexuality cut. It's a change that drew criticism online, especially as certain moviegoers already thought the movie didn't focus on Mercury's queerness enough. And now film advocates in China are responding as well.

LGBT advocate and cinephiles Peng Yanzi recently spoke to the Associated Press about the choice to edit down Bohemian Rhapsody, and what it did to the movie. The report was:

Aside from ignoring an important aspect of the subject of Bohemian Rhapsody, it looks like these new edits may have affected the film overall. Freddie Mercury's journey in the biopic was about music and self-discovery. And cutting out his coming out process means that a big aspect of that narrative was absent from Bohemian Rhapsody.

Another Chinese moviegoer and LGBT advocate addressed the changes to Bohemian Rhapsody, and how the editing affected the quality of the overall movie. They said:

Bohemian Rhapsody might not have been a gay love story, but Freddie Mercury's sexuality is the unspoken elephant in the room for most of the biopic. Still, there are a few extremely poignant scenes that occur later in the film, as Mercury's starpower is on the rise. His relationship with girlfriend Mary Austin was shown slowly dissolving, and eventually Lucy Boynton's character opens the dialogue about his sexuality. That scene is one of many to get the cut for the Chinese release, and it appears the movie is worse for it.

As a reminder, you can check out that scene below.

The above sequence is one of the most powerful and emotional in the entirety of Bohemian Rhapsody. In fact, it's hard to even imagine a version of the film lacking this plot line, and this powerful moment between the two real-life figures.

It should be interesting to see how Bohemian Rhapsody ultimately performs overseas. There's obviously a ton of hype around the project, after taking so many trophies. But will the new edit ruin it? We'll have to see. In the meantime, be sure to check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

It's only been a couple of days since Bohemian Rhapsody was released into Chinese theaters, and it was a long road to even get there. This week, word is coming out as to what's been cut from the film. We knew that Bohemian Rhapsody was going to have some issues as it was cleared for a Chinese release and would endure some omissions due to Chinese restrictions and censors. Now we have a specific rundown of just what's been cut, and the trimmed material ranges from the mere usage of the word “gay” to crucial scenes involving the arc of Freddie Mercury's eventual acceptance of his sexuality.

The specific moments trimmed from Bohemian Rhapsody include the comedic beat during Queen's early Top of the Pops performance where Freddie's crotch is in full view of the camera, a couple of kisses between the Queen front man and his lovers, and even a moment where band mate Roger Taylor tells Freddie that his haircut makes him look “gayer.”

But perhaps the biggest cuts to Bohemian Rhapsody are two scenes that most help nail down the film's identity. The first is the moment with Freddie Mercury and his wife Mary, played by Lucy Boynton, who eventually outs her husband as gay; and the second is the recreation of the “I Want To Break Free” music video, which led to an MTV ban on the song's music video back in 1984. Both are lynchpin moments for the twin narratives of both Freddie's and the band's evolutions, and yet both were dropped.

In total, six sequences were cited as removed in an analysis provided to CNN by documentarian Fan Popo, a Chinese-born filmmaker. Also known as an LGBTQ activist in his home country, Popo revealed this list of cut moments as an antithesis to the viewpoint that Bohemian Rhapsody's mere release in the country should be seen as a win. Further driving his point home, he provided the following feelings about these moments being excised from Bohemian Rhapsody:

It was highly unexpected that Bohemian Rhapsody would hit Chinese theaters at all due to the country's strict LGBTQ media stance, so even the fact a trimmed down version of the movie made it to theaters is news.  Should a potential sequel to Bohemian Rhapsody that's been bandied about as of late ever get off the ground, it would be interesting to see if rather than pushing the envelope and trimming the film to fit a specific release, the next picture would just avoid those sorts of moments at the script level. Not only would such an approach save time and money on cutting two different versions of the film, it would potentially give this hypothetical blockbuster a means to break even more records than its predecessor. At the same time, it wouldn't be super accurate to Freddie Mercury's life.

While Bohemian Rhapsody didn't suffer the fate of being banned from China, much like Crimson Peak, it did run into some rather sharp editing shears on the way to its release. Which begs the question, which is the better fate: to have your film's message altered or to not be shown at all in a particular market? That something that the (now) Fox-owned Disney will need to figure out movie forward.  It's also something you can think about as you watch Bohemian Rhapsody, which is already available on Digital HD, as well as home video.

Bohemian Rhapsody has found incredible success as the highest-earning music biopic worldwide, and as a four-time Oscar winner. The movie centering around Queen’s history as a band swept most of the technical categories at the Academy Awards, including Best Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Film Editing. The latter has been most heavily criticized online for its win, especially for the cut of the band’s first meeting with manager John Reid, which became a viral example of Oscar "injustice" on Twitter.

John Ottman, who was Bohemian Rhapsody’s editor, received a ton of honors during awards season. He was recently told of a viral video specifically criticizing the editing of that band meeting scene. Here was his reaction:

The Bohemian Rhapsody editor told The Washington Post that the restaurant scene was one of the few scenes shot by Dexter Fletcher shortly after previous director Bryan Singer was fired from the film. Some of the storyline was reordered, leading to a reshoot of the meeting between the band and their manager outside a London pub. Check out the scene found all over Twitter after the Oscars in all of its glory below:

Feeling that whiplash? The flashy cut switches in this scene in particular caused an outcry over the internet, all questioning how the movie won an Oscar for Best Editing. John Ottman said he was under pressure to get the first act of Bohemian Rhapsody moving quickly, so some scenes ended up looking this way.

Later, when the movie was screened for test audiences, their feedback indicated they enjoyed learning about the band in their early years. So Ottman went back over those scenes and slowed them down. However, due to time constraints, he didn't get to do the same for the now much-mocked meeting scene. The editor certainly seems to regret it now looking back, per his recent words.

A recent video by Thomas Flight breaks down just why the Bohemian Rhapsody restaurant scene in question, and many of the other dialogue scenes, have terrible editing. Take a look:

You know there’s something wrong when a simple dialogue scene has 60 cuts in under two minutes – more than an action sequence in Transformers: The Last Knight. The video breaks down some major problems with the editing in Bohemian Rhapsody, along with why it may have been recognized for it by the Academy – because it’s noticeable. Though the YouTuber notes great movie editing is often not easy to detect.

The 2019 Best Film Editing honor isn’t the only Oscar winner that has been criticized this year. Best Picture going to Green Book has also perplexed moviegoers, along with First Man over Avengers: Infinity War for Best Visual Effects.

Did you notice Bohemian Rhapsody’s flashy editing and did it bother you when you watched it? Sound off in the comments below!

Bohemian Rhapsody has mostly had a charmed awards season after its release in November of 2018, likely propelled along by the fact that Queen band members Brian May and Roger Taylor were actively involved in the press leading up to the release of the flick and the awards season that came after. While Brian May was actively engaged in Bohemian Rhapsody and its success, he recently revealed that the negativity from the media took a toll on him.

The actor was very blunt in his concerns about the way the awards season race is run, although he was also quick to point out that he is grateful Bohemian Rhapsody was in the conversation at all this awards season. In a lengthy post, May revealed how he felt about the long ride to the Oscars, noting:

Bohemian Rhapsody, despite being the lowest rated Golden Globes winner since Out Of Africa, stood up well against the naysayers during the latest awards season. The movie went on to win numerous accolades – most notably for Rami Malek’s performance—and even took home four statues at the recent 2019 Oscars event.

The Full List Of Oscar Winners 2019, See The Complete List.

During the Oscars, a performance from Queen + Adam Lambert really got the event off to a rocking start, and both Brian May and Roger Taylor seemed into being at the event. Apparently, that joy at performing was tempered a bit for Brian May, who revealed on Instagram that the politics and news noise surrounding awards season took a great toll.

What Happened Leading Up To The Oscars

Both Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody had to suffer through months of people complaining about how the movies didn’t fully stick to factual details concerning the real-life individuals the movie followed. For Green Book, this meant Dr. Donald Shirley was not portrayed accurately. For Bohemian Rhapsody, the focus was less on Freddie Mercury’s personal life than some would have preferred. In addition, some people were unhappy with timeline changes.

Of course, the differing takes surrounding Brian Singer’s exit from Bohemian Rhapsody, although he retained a director credit, took up some time as well.

On the bright side, Brian May did reveal after he performed at the Oscars that there was a bright spot that came from one of the people putting together the event. He mentioned of the Oscars,

Shortly before the Oscars aired, Brian May and Roger Taylor reacted to performing, with May noting he was ready to “make [Oscars people] proud.”

What Brian May Has Said When He Has Spoken On The Topic Before

This isn’t the first time that Brian May has spoken out regarding a lot of the criticism that Bohemian Rhapsody faced after its release. He previously said of the criticism that it has been steeped in “similar jealous righteousness” to what Queen faced when the band was producing new music. Ending on a positive note, he also said:

Bohemian Rhapsody may not have endeared itself to every critic out there, but at the end of the day, it certainly endeared itself to a wide swath of fans. The movie made a boatload of money worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing musical biopic at the box office ever. It's also already available on home entertainment, and was the #1 debut in those sales during its first week of release in February.

It's one of several movies this awards season that were more populist winners and went on to do quite well at the box office, including Black Panther and A Star Is Born, as well. We'll have to wait and see if this ends up being a pattern during awards season or if indie darlings will end up being the main contenders once more.

Don’t stop Bohemian Rhapsody now! The worldwide phenomenon has already become the highest-earning musical biopic ever with its over $861 million in box office earnings and dominated last Sunday’s Academy Awards with four wins. It has now been announced the movie will soon open in China.

Given the country’s usual stance on LGBT media, the permission for Bohemian Rhapsody to be released in China comes as a surprise to many. According to The Hollywood Reporter, there will be cuts made to the film including those showing drug use and kissing scenes between Rami Malek’s Freddie Mercury with other male characters.

China’s censorship of Bohemian Rhapsody isn’t new – the country recently cut out a same-sex kiss in 2017’s Alien: Covenant and have refused Brokeback Mountain and Call Me By Your Name from release. However, the country did allow the infamous “gay moment” in Disney’s live action Beauty and the Beast involving Josh Gad’s LeFou to play in their theaters.

News of Bohemian Rhapsody’s China release comes fresh off a recent controversy concerning Chinese streaming site Mango TV’s censorship of Rami Malek’s Best Actor speech at the Oscars for his role as Freddie Mercury. When Malek said the words “gay man” when expressing the movie’s important theme about expressing one’s identity, it was replaced with “special group” on the translated subtitles.

The permission 21th Century Fox received on Wednesday is also to be a limited release in mid-March by the China’s National Alliance of Arthouse Cinemas, with the potential to expand if it shares early success among the audiences.

Bohemian Rhapsody has had incredible success in foreign markets so far, as they’ve made up 75% of the film’s box office earnings. Japan has particularly embraced the film, as it recently crossed $100 million in the country alone – the second highest earnings for the film besides the movie’s domestic gross of over $213 million. Bohemian Rhapsody was a word-of-mouth hit in Japan that has inspired repeat viewings, cosplays and chart-topping record sales for Queen.

Considering how much of a money-maker Bohemian Rhapsody has been for Fox, this deal with China shows the studio is taking more risks to expand the earnings of the big hit. During the recent quarter of the Fox film division, earnings scaled up to 47%, to $193 million in earnings with Bohemian Rhapsody much to thank for the amazing profit numbers.

While the Queen biopic focuses on celebrating the music and rich history of the band, only hinting at frontman Freddie Mercury’s struggle with his sexuality and later embrace of his identity, though it is arguably just as important to the band’s story as the glamorous shows. It will be interesting to see how Chinese audiences receive the film when it comes to theaters for them sometime in March.

Queen + Adam Lambert is getting a Bohemian Rhapsody follow-up. Just a few days after the band totally crushed it at the 2019 Oscars, ABC has announced the group will be getting a special documentary on the network guaranteed to rock you.

The network is wasting no time pushing out the new content either. In fact, the upcoming documentary will air for two hours (with the addition of commercials) on Monday, April 29 from 8-10 p.m. ET. The special will focus on Queen after the band signed on Adam Lambert to replace Freddie Mercury for occasional dates back in 2011 and began touring in earnest in more recent years. ABC acquired the rights for the documentary, which is coming from producer Jim Beach and filmmaker Simon Lupton.

The special will be called The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story and will feature interviews from Adam Lambert, his parents, Brian May and Roger Taylor (John Deacon is still retired), plus Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins, Simon Cowell and Rami Malek, who portrayed Freddie Mercury for the 2018 movie Bohemian Rhapsody.

The addition of Simon Cowell makes sense, given that Brian May and Roger Taylor performed on American Idol with Adam Lambert back when he was a contestant on the famous competition series in 2009. Take a look.

A lot of the documentary is going to focus on Adam Lambert as he went from a young man to an adult stepping into some big shoes to perform with Queen.

The band was expected to be finished following a tribute concert that was performed after Freddie Mercury’s death back in 1991. In fact, John Deacon did retire in 1997, but the remaining members of the band have a found a new lease on life thanks to Adam Lambert’s vocal power.

There’s been a lot of renewed interest in Queen's story since Bohemian Rhapsody hit theaters last fall, eventually becoming the most popular music biopic to ever hit theaters.

The band enjoyed some time in the charts recently thanks to the Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack selling 59,000 units during the movie’s first week in theaters. Brian May is also set to release his first single in ages. Plus, Queen + Adam Lambert are embarking on a sold out tour of the U.S. in July and August of 2019.

A lot of different age groups are interested in Queen right now, and it looks like ABC wanted to bring more content to the fans. We’ll have to wait and see if The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert story is worth viewing. In the meantime, you can see what the band still has to offer on the stage by checking out the full Oscars performance if you haven't caught it already.