We see a little silhouette of a man and he is stand on top of the global box office. Critics may not have been so kind to the Freddie Mercury movie but fans have packed out cinemas across the world with European audiencs responding a strongly as those in South America, Russia and even North America, where Queen suffered a sudden and catastrophic fall in 1984 over a certain drag-fuelled video. Thirty years later and 17 since the death of Freddie, himself, and he is once again top of the charts.
Bohemian Rhapsody now strands at a staggering $ 606million worldwide, with $ 176million in the US alone. This comfortably makes it the heights grossing rock biopic ever.
In the US that record was previously held by Straight Outta Compton on $ 161million but it made little impact elsewhere around the world.
This is particularly incredible, considering Queen found themselves in the wilderness in America after outrage and an MTV ban over the cross-dressing in the I Want To Break Free video. Mike Myers’ use of Bohemian Rhapsody in Wayne’s World is widely credited with restarting the band’s career.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE HOW BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY COMPARES WITH THE ALL-TIME BIGGEST MUSICALS AT THE BOX OFFICE
It is a mark of how much the world has changed that a film which addresses Freddie Mercury’s homosexuality, AIDS and every aspect of Queen’s extraordinary career has triumphed in the US.
Bohemian Rhapsody has also raced past many of the most famous movie musicals of all time.
In the modern box office era, Les Miserables took $ 442million with La La Land on $ 446million and The Greatest Showman on $ 434million.
One modern musical still lies just ahead, Mamma Mia stands at $ 610million but is likely to passed by Bohemian Rhapsody shortly.
The biggest modern movie musical of the modern era without adjustment for inflation is the live action remake of Beauty and the Beast, which took a staggering $ 1.26billion worldwide.
Bohemian Rhapsody will not catch the Disney blockbuster but Freddie would probably have been highly amused by that, anyway.
Long live the king. And Queen.
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY IS OUT NOW IN CINEMAS WORLDWIDE
