(Image credit: 20th Century Fox)

After an October that blew by everyone’s expectations and set industry records, the calendar now turns to a November that should eventually keep the momentum going after a relatively slow start this weekend, with Fox/New Regency’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” leading the release slate and expected to take No. 1 this weekend with a $35-40 million opening from 4,000+ screens.

The Queen biopic is facing mixed reviews with a 56 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have panned the film’s screenplay for leaning on biopic cliches and heavily altering the history of the famed British rock band, while failing to reveal anything insightful about them.

The parts of the film that did earn praise are the elements that mainstream moviegoers are likely to be interested in, namely the lead performance by Rami Malek as Queen’s iconic frontman Freddie Mercury. The role is getting buzz for potential Oscar contention this winter, and Fox will be looking to that buzz to sustain interest in the film.

Also Read: 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Film Review: Queen Bio Won't Exactly Rock You

The film’s elaborate concert scenes also earned praise, which critics said evoked Queen’s onstage power even as the actors lip-synced to the original band recordings. Casual moviegoers and hardcore Queen fans alike are expected to flock to the film out of interest in seeing the band’s heyday re-enacted on screen, with Fandango and Atom Tickets reporting that presales for the film on their respective sites are beating those of “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again” and “A Star Is Born,” the latter of which opened to $42 million.

If audiences are as pleased with the film’s spin on “Another One Bites the Dust” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” that may be enough to get the movie the word of mouth it needs.

“For a while, critics and audiences have been on the same page, but with ‘Venom’ and possibly now with ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ we may be seeing regular moviegoers reaching a different consensus than the reviews,” said comScore’s Paul Dergarabedian.

“It’s the critics’ job to look closer at things like the script’s historical accuracy, but we’ve seen time and time again that accuracy isn’t really a deal-breaker for moviegoers. If the film delivers the excitement of going to a Queen concert, it’s going to do well,” he added.

Also Read: Bryan Singer Preemptively Denies Accusations About Him in Upcoming Esquire Article

“Bohemian Rhapsody” was directed by Bryan Singer, with Dexter Fletcher completing the film after Singer left during production. Anthony McCarten, who earned Oscar nominations as producer and writer for “The Theory of Everything” and “Darkest Hour,” wrote the screenplay.

Also releasing this weekend is Disney’s “Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” a Christmas film hitting theaters just two days after Halloween. Tracking for the film shows the signs of a major bomb, with projections of an opening in the low $20 million range against a reported budget of $130 million.

But if there’s any studio that could take this sort of hit at the box office and easily dust itself off, it’s Disney. We already saw proof of that earlier this year, when “Solo” set a shocking franchise low for “Star Wars,” only for Disney to get back to its winning ways when “Incredibles 2” set a new animation box office record less than a month later.

Also Read: 'The Nutcracker and the Four Realms' Trailer: Mackenzie Foy Sees The Magical Dark Side of Legendary Tale (Video)

Even the release date for “Nutcracker” shows the strength of Disney’s slate. The reason why the film isn’t opening closer to Christmas is because the studio is reserving its holiday season slots for two highly anticipated sequels: “Ralph Breaks the Internet” on Thanksgiving and “Mary Poppins Returns” on Christmas. “Ralph” is expected to improve on the $471 million global cume of its 2012 predecessor, while “Mary Poppins” has a strong chance of legging out well into January in the same way that “The Greatest Showman” did last year.

With $2.75 billion already grossed domestically, Disney should easily pass its own industry record for annual domestic gross with $3 billion in 2016. And a lack of interest in “Nutcracker” won’t stop it.

“Nutcracker and the Four Realms” stars Mackenzie Foy as Clara, a girl who receives a key to a priceless Christmas gift from her godfather Drosselmeyer (Morgan Freeman). But the key disappears into a magical world where, with the help of a soldier named Phillip (Jayden Fowora-Knight), Clara must retrieve the key and save the land’s three peaceful realms from the dark Fourth Realm and its ruler, Mother Ginger (Helen Mirren).

Also Read: What's Next for Fox Film CEO Stacey Snider After Disney Closes Deal?

Lasse Hallstrom directed the film, with reshoots directed by Joe Johnston and a screenplay by Ashleigh Powell and Tom McCarthy. Keira Knightley, Misty Copeland, Eugenio Derbez and Richard E. Grant also star.

Finally, there is “Nobody’s Fool,” the latest film from Tyler Perry that sees the prolific actor/writer/director team up with Whoopi Goldberg and Tiffany Haddish in his first R-rated comedy. Distributed by Paramount, the film is projected to open to $12-14 million. While that would be Perry’s lowest opening in more than 10 years, a lower start compared to his past comedies is to be expected given the film’s rating.

Written and directed by Perry, “Nobody’s Fool” stars Haddish as a woman recently released from prison who reunited with her sister (Tika Sumpter) and discovers that she is in an online relationship with a man who might not exist. Goldberg stars as the sisters’ mother, with Omari Hardwick also starring.

'Bohemian Rhapsody:' A History of Making the Freddie Mercury Biopic (Photos)

Mamma Mia Figaro! We've been anticipating a movie about the life of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury for the last seven years -- when it looked like Borat himself, Sacha Baron Cohen, might play the flamboyant singer. And at long last, we got images from the film "Bohemian Rhapsody" signaling it would finally come to pass. To add to the turmoil, Bryan Singer was even fired from the film. But the film finally opens on Nov. 2. Here's a brief history of the long road the film has taken to get made.
Getty Images
September 2010

Sacha Baron Cohen, a spitting image of Mercury, is locked in to play Freddie Mercury in the untitled film written by “Frost/Nixon” scribe Peter Morgan, with Graham King, Tim Headington, Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal all attached to produce. Supposedly the film would not focus on Mercury’s battle with AIDS and would culminate in Queen’s 1985 appearance at Live Aid, six years before he died. The producers had also secured the rights to many of Queen’s hits, including “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions” and “Another One Bites the Dust.”
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May 2012

Stephen Frears is reported as the frontrunner for the directing job on the still untitled biopic, but other directors names are still in the mix. Frears would later address his brief involvement on the film, telling The Wrap that he had met with Baron Cohen and expected to hear more, but then read that Baron Cohen had a falling out with Queen’s Brian May.
Photo by David Buchan/Getty Images For TheWrap
July 2013

Sacha Baron Cohen exits the project over creative differences; Cohen wanted a warts-and-all portrayal of Mercury’s life, while the band members wanted a more reverential portrait of themselves, even going as far as to refuse “A King’s Speech” director Tom Hooper (pictured) for the job.
Getty Images
September 2013

Writer Peter Morgan told the BBC that the project was “probably not going to happen,” but that was quickly disputed when the producers said it was “still very much alive.”
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December 2013

Queen’s first choice for Mercury circa 2013 is Ben Whishaw, who had recently played Q in the Daniel Craig James Bond films. He's paired with director Dexter Fletcher, who directed the musical “Sunshine on Leith.” Queen also weighed in on why they felt Baron Cohen wasn’t right for the part. “We thought there has to be no distraction in the Freddie movie. You have to really suspend that disbelief – the man who plays Freddie, you have to really believe is Freddie. And we didn’t [think] that could really happen with Sacha.”
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December 2013

“Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe shoots down “ridiculous” rumors that he would be playing Mercury in the film, following a Daily Mail report.
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March 2014

Another one bites the dust. Fletcher also departs the project over creative differences, again tied to a difference in opinion over whether to make the film R-rated or a more sanitized portrait of the band.
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November 2015

“The Theory of Everything” scribe Anthony McCarten is hired to rewrite Morgan’s initial script, and the studio starts toying with the idea of “Bohemian Rhapsody” as the film’s official title. While Whishaw’s name is still at the top of the list to play Mercury, he doesn’t have a deal in place.
Photographed by Corina Marie for TheWrap at the Thompson Toronto
March 2016

Speaking with Howard Stern, Sacha Baron Cohen revealed he “should’ve listened to the warning bells” when he claims the band envisioned Mercury dying midway through the movie and then carrying on to see the band overcome that adversity.
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April 2016

Queen’s Brian May fires back at Baron Cohen’s Howard Stern interview, telling the Daily Mail “Sacha became an a---,” even disputing Cohen’s take that they wanted to make a more PG biopic. "Why would he go away and say that we didn’t want to make a gritty film?" May said. "Are we the kind of people who have ever ducked from the truth? I don’t think so."
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November 2016

“Mr. Robot’s” Rami Malek is the latest to step into the role of Freddie Mercury with Bryan Singer attached to direct.
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September 2017

We finally get the first look at Malek as Mercury, and he looks stunning, bearing an uncanny resemblance of Mercury at Queen’s 1985 Live Aid concert. Malek also revealed that he would be singing in the film with a mix of Mercury’s own voice and was recording in Abbey Road studios. Aidan Gillen and Tom Hollander also round out the film's cast.
Entertainment Weekly
December 2017

Production halts on “Bohemian Rhapsody” due to Singer’s “unexpected unavailability,” which he said regarded a personal health matter. Days later, Fox fires Singer from the film just weeks away from wrapping production, and it’s still slated for release in December of 2018. Fox additionally closes Singer’s offices on their lot, and Singer claims he was fired because the studio wouldn’t give him time to care for a sick parent.
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December 2017

Dexter Fletcher is hired to replace Singer on the project after originally leaving the film back in March of 2014. Singer additionally told TMZ he had “no beef” with the studios or with star Rami Malek, and he spoke kindly about his replacement on the film Dexter Fletcher, but added that, “it’s my film.”
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May 2018

Fox releases the first teaser trailer for "Bohemian Rhapsody." The film was pushed to Nov. 2, 2018 in March of that year. The teaser is a glossy look at the band's rise to stardom, but it's criticized for "hetero-washing" Mercury's gay identity and for saying Mercury died of a "life-threatening illness" instead of openly saying he died of AIDS.
Fox
November 2018

The movie finally opens in theaters -- with Rami Malek winning high praise for his performance (if not for the prosthetic teeth he uses to mimic Mercury's famous overbite). But reviews are overall tepid, with the film garnering a weak 60 percent on Rotten Tomatoes on opening day.
Fox

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From Sacha Baron Cohen’s exit to Bryan Singer’s firing, the hectic story of the upcoming Queen movie

Mamma Mia Figaro! We've been anticipating a movie about the life of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury for the last seven years -- when it looked like Borat himself, Sacha Baron Cohen, might play the flamboyant singer. And at long last, we got images from the film "Bohemian Rhapsody" signaling it would finally come to pass. To add to the turmoil, Bryan Singer was even fired from the film. But the film finally opens on Nov. 2. Here's a brief history of the long road the film has taken to get made.

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