Why’d it Hit? Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
https://lebeauleblog.com/2019/02/06/whyd-it-hit-bohemian-rhapsody-2018/
3. Lack of Competitionshare
When Bohemian Rhapsody came out, other movies that had been a hit at the time like A Star is Born, Halloween, and Venom had already been in theaters for a few weeks. And no one cared about The Nutcracker and the Four Realms and Nobody’s Fool, which gave it an advantage. And, in the next few weeks, the only other movie that managed to be that big of a hit was The Grinch. Sure there were other movies that managed to be modest successes, but none with quite as much staying power (even if I’d argue they’re better movies).
I think that might’ve given it an edge over the likes of Straight Outta Compton and Walk the Line, both of which DID have competition, as SOC had to deal with Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and WTL had to deal with Goblet of Fire.
2. A Star was Born-and his name is Rami Malek
Rami Malek was not quite an A-lister before it came out but Mr. Robot definitely helped make him a household name. And the praise he got for his performance, even from critics who otherwise were not fond of the movie, made people want to check it out, just to see how good his performance was.
But while Rami Malek definitely helped, the biggest reason this movie was a hit was because…
1. Queen. Just Queen
Many people are nostalgic for Queen. In the United States AND Europe, Queen is a big deal and everyone loves the band and their songs. That’s probably what helped make it more money overall than Straight Outta Compton or Walk the Line, regardless of quality. NWA and Johnny Cash are popular in America but I don’t think they’re as popular as Queen overseas as they are in the United States. But Queen is very popular in the United Kingdom, amongst other countries. I guess they’re also popular in Japan considering it made $93 million dollars there.
Not only that but Queen is known for their big, operatic songs that are perfect to listen to in a big surround sound format in any movie theater. Not only does Queen have a lot of pop culture relevance around the world, they just produced songs that are perfect for a movie. Just look at the Suicide Squad trailer. Or Wayne’s World.
So that’s why, despite production troubles, rumors of straight washing, and mixed reviews, Bohemian Rhapsody ended up being the success it was. At the end of the day, Queen was the champion, my friends. And they kept on fighting ’til the end.
Question is, even if it gets better reviews, will Rocketman achieve the same amount of success? It’s hard to say, it hasn’t had quite as much advertising as Bohemian Rhapsody has had so far. Not only that but, while Elton John is also popular around the world, he’s not really known for producing songs that are big and operatic and would sound awesome in a movie theater (with exceptions here and there, like I’m Still Standing). I think it’ll do well, but I’m not quite convinced it’ll repeat Bohemian Rhapsody‘s success. Plus it is coming out around the same time as Aladdin, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, John Wick, and Detective Pikachu so it has more competition but who knows?