The director of dozens of classic Queen videos says the band and its management are lining up behind a sequel to the smash hit Freddie Mercury film “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Rudi Dolezal — who directed videos for the band, and became close with Mercury during his life — told Page Six in an interview about Queen’s legendary manager Jim Beach, “I’m sure he plans a sequel that starts with Live Aid.” Dolezal added that the follow-up film is now “being heavily discussed in the Queen family.”
Beach also produced “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which has made more than $870 million worldwide. The rock biopic won four Oscars last month and was nominated for best picture.
The movie ends with Mercury and the band’s iconic Live Aid performance, which is around the time that Dolezal began working with Queen — beginning with their 1985 song “One Vision.” He ended up doing around 30 videos for the band and its members, ending with Mercury’s final video shoot for “These Are the Days of Our Lives” in 1991, the same year the singer died.
Queen guitar god Brian May has hinted about a sequel to the film, and that there’s more of Mercury’s tale to tell. He quipped in a December interview of the project, “I think Live Aid is a good point to leave it. Who knows, there might be a sequel.”
But while the film’s awards have added buzz that there will a sequel, a pal of star Rami Malek’s told us they hadn’t heard of any talk about a new film. A rep for Queen’s record label told us they have not heard about any sequel, but that “The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story” will air on ABC in April.
It took over 20 years for “Bohemian Rhapsody” to get made. The Mercury role was once going to be played by Sacha Baron Cohen. The project was championed by eventual executive producers Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro.
Meanwhile, Dolezal told us he’s writing a book, “My Friend, Freddie,” and will release his interviews with Mercury in a film called, “Freddie Mercury: In His Own Words.”