‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Gives Queen Highest Chart Position Since 1980
Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody soundtrack album has given the band its highest chart placing in 38 years by rising to No. 3 on the back of the Freddie Mercury biopic’s success.
The LP sold 59,000 units last week, securing the band’s biggest impact since 1980’s The Game – which included the hits “Another One Bites the Dust” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” – spent five weeks at No. 1. In addition, their Greatest Hits I II & III: The Platinum Collection jumped from No. 194 to No. 9, marking the first time Queen have ever had two albums in the top 10. Their Greatest Hits also moved up from No. 71 to No. 48.
Bohemian Rhapsody, the movie, enjoyed an opening weekend take of $51 million, significantly higher than expected, and went on to make $31 million in its second weekend. With a total of more than $100 million, it’s now the third-highest grossing music biopic of all time, and has a good chance of overtaking top-spot holder Straight Outta Compton, which took $161 million in the U.S. in 2015. With $285 million grossed worldwide, Bohemian Rhapsody has already overtaken Straight Outta Compton’s $201 million total.
The soundtrack album includes a number of classic tracks featuring in the movie, along with audio from Queen’s triumphant appearance at Live Aid in 1985, which had never been released before.
Meanwhile, the leading cinema chain in Malaysia denied reports that 24 minutes of the movie had been cut to satisfy that nation’s censors over Mercury’s sexuality. In a statement, GSC said that the Malaysian version was just three minutes shorter than the original cut’s 134 minutes. “This is between the studio and the censorship board," it noted. "Cinemas can’t do censorship. We are only playing the content.”