Brian May: ‘Elvis deserves accurate biopic just like Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody’ | Music | Entertainment
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Bohemian Rhapsody was years in the making, losing original Freddie Mercury star Sacha Baron Cohen over creative differences and seeing director Bryan Singer fired during production over regularly going AWOL. Nevertheless, Dexter Fletcher completed the movie and it all paid off spectacularly with big Oscar and Golden Globe wins, not to mention over $900 million made at the box office. Studios and the estates of music stars are now following suit. First was Elton John’s Rocketman and now Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson are getting the biopic treatment among others.
Express.co.uk recently caught up with Brian May and asked if there was any advice he’d give those making such movies.
The Queen guitarist said: “Yeah, a lot of people are deciding they’re going to go down this route, started off by the Elton one of course. [Bohemian Rhapsody] definitely inspired a lot of people to have a bash at it. It’s not as easy as people think I would say. I think you would have to start by asking yourself the very deep questions about what is your truth and what is it you’re trying to say. It can’t just be viewed as a piece of fluff or entertainment. It must be truthful to the person. And that’s hard.”
Although Cohen had wanted to make a “warts n’ all” take on the Freddie Mercury biopic, Brian believes Bohemian Rhapsody did portray the Queen singer accurately without going too far and dishonouring his legacy.
Brian said: “I feel that our movie trod the right paths and did portray Freddie’s life the way he saw it. Without basking in glory too much, without putting him down, without getting obsessed with any particular angle. I think it portrayed Freddie as a musician and a human being pretty accurately. I was proud that we were able to do that because Freddie deserved it. Elvis undoubtedly deserves it. I don’t know who would be close enough to him now to ensure that he’s portrayed with love. But I would hope that’s done with the proper respect and affection, without going down the ultimate glorification route, which really nobody wants to see that. They want to see the real person. I would be excited to see that. It will be very interesting to see Elvis in his real state as far as it could be.”
Warner Bros’ Elvis movie has consulted The King’s estate and worked with Graceland for accuracy. However, Priscilla Presley is worried about the movie.
Priscilla originally met with director Baz before filming began and was aware of his stylistic filming style.
However, at Elvis Week last August, she told fans: “To be honest with you… I don’t know anything about what’s going on with that movie. Baz came to my home a couple of times. He said he’d send me the script once he was back in Australia, still working on it. I have not received it, which makes me a little nervous. Actually a lot nervous because Baz can be…y’know he kind of goes off-beat a bit. So I don’t know what he’s planning on doing. I just don’t know what direction he’s going to take it in. Y’know he has his own ideas. He has talked to people. So it all depends on who he’s talked to really. I had nothing to do with the film…” She then joked: “No! If it is good I had everything to do with it!”
Interestingly, the Moulin Rouge director has said that the Elvis movie isn’t really about The King at the heart of it.
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Baz told the Australian Financial Review last year: “When I look at musical biography, it’s not really about the life. I’m not about lionising Elvis. I just saw him as the best canvas on which to explore America in the modern age, the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. I saw this story of The Colonel and Elvis as a really great prism through which to explore the latter part of the 20th century. Elvis represents what happens when a kid lives in one of four designated white houses in a black community. Something new comes about, a fusion between country and African-American music, gospel and country-and-western music.” In comparison, he said that The Colonel, who is played by Tom Hanks, represents the other quality in America of “the big sell”.
Elvis is released in cinemas on June 24, 2022.
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