Brian May ignites Bohemian Rhapsody sequel frenzy with new picture of cast | Films | Entertainment

The original 2018 Queen biopic smashed all expectations, along with box records, as it banked a right royal $910million worldwide on a relatively modest $50million budget. But then, the love for the band and it’s enduringly iconic frontman Freddie Mercury should never have been underestimated. However, since the film hit cinemas, Queen has somehow become even more popular, fuelled also by the ongoing world tour headlined by Brian May, Roger Taylor and Adam Lambert. So, expectations and demands for a sequel are sky-high. May himself has given updates on production on the follow-up, which is expected to pick up the story after Live Aid. 

There has been a running joke among fans that Ben Hardy, who played drummer Taylor in the 2018 blockbuster, is so rarely pictured with the others that they use a cardboard cut-out in group pictures. So this reunion was big news as he got together with Gwilym Lee, Rami Malek and Joe Mazzello in New York. Within a few hours, May shared the happy news and the fandom, naturally, went wild.

The image was originally posted on Lee’s Instagram account and the top comment from fans unsurprisingly says: “BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY II or get out.”

May said: “It’s going to take a lot of careful thought and a lot of magical inspiration – which is what happened [with Bohemian Rhapsody]. Y’know, it took us 12 years to put that film together. So maybe it’s going to take just as long for this.”

Bearing in mind that’s how long it has taken George RR Martin to finish the next Game of Thrones fans, we can only hope May isn’t serious.

He added: “It is exciting, I have to say. The thought of going through that all again is very attractive; working with that wonderful team again. The four guys who played us and the team who produced it and directed it and everything. It was all amazing.”

However, he clarified: “For the moment we’re just looking at ideas, that’s it.”

When we asked Brian: “What else could it be called but The Show Must Go On?” The Queen legend replied: “Ahhh…it’s a distinct possibility, isn’t it? I can’t say it’s a bad idea…”

The song was the very last track on Queen’s 1991 album Innuendo, their last record to be released when Freddie was alive.

Brian said of Bohemian Rhapsody 2: “We continue to look at it and sift through ideas, but we haven’t made any actual progress, it would be fair to say… We definitely haven’t given up on the idea.”