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:
She got to see me as young Freddy with long hair and, of course, the teeth, makeup---the whole kind of 1970s early glam rock look. She laughed. As you can imagine it was an incredibly kind of bizarre, alien moment for her... She did [cry] later on. On a serious note, she wrote me the most moving email. It was very powerful. To get that vote of appreciate from the people closest to them was everything to me.
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:
I was happy to find out they were going to make the movie. And, although it was very emotional for me, I thought it was tastefully done.
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.
