Queen drummer Roger Taylor has echoed bandmate Brian May’s recent comments about the possibility of a Bohemian Rhapsody sequel.
“I have to say no,” the 70-year-old told Rolling Stone. “We need to sit back for a year or two and look at things and see if that is a believable or credible thing to do.”
Two months ago, May told Rolling Stone: “We’ve talked. Basically we think not, at the moment. Things could change, I suppose, but I think it would be difficult.” He said making a movie about Freddie Mercury’s final years (he died in 1991) would not be “an uplifting thing to do.”
The 2018 flick, which earned $1.3 billion at the box office and collected four Oscars, told the story of Queen up until the band performed at Live Aid in 1985. For dramatic effect, Bohemian Rhapsody pushed up frontman Freddie Mercury’s HIV diagnosis by two years.
“The movie was a great hit. We were delighted, obviously,” said Taylor. “But I wouldn’t want to be seen as cashing in again. I’d have to have a very, very good script and scenario to make that work. Right now, I can’t think of a way of doing a sequel.
“If somebody comes up with a genius plan, maybe we’ll think about it. Right now, we’re just very happy with what the movie did. There are so many sequels that don’t match up to the original one. There are obvious ones that did, but on the whole, I think it’s a dangerous territory.”
Rumours that a sequel to Bohemian Rhapsody was in the works were sparked in March 2019 when Rudi Dolezal, who had no connection to the film, opined that there were talks of a second movie.