A concert film of Queen’s majestic 1986 gig in Hungary, the band’s final filmed performance with Freddie Mercury, will be hitting the biggest possible screen this fall. Queen Budapest will open on Oct. 7 with screenings at more than 2,000 cinemas, including
some IMAX screens. Full ticketing details are on a bespoke website.
The film’s trailer opens with Mercury alone on the stage doing one of his famous “Aaayyoo” calls. It then shows the group playing “We Will Rock You,” and Mercury in a crown and cape (no shirt of course) as snippets from their performances of “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “We Are the Champions” play. It features scenes of Mercury strutting, bassist John Deacon having a smoke, audience members waving sparklers, guitarist Brian May crouching with his guitar, and about half a dozen partly-consumed beers on Mercury’s piano. “This is a night we’re never gonna forget,” Mercury comments in one scene.
Screenings will feature a new interview with May and drummer Roger Taylor in which they reflect on the concert.
In addition to the aforementioned songs, the band played a hit-filled 25-song set list that included “Under Pressure,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “I Want to Break Free,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” and “Radio Ga Ga,” among others. They also performed an acoustic rendition of a Hungarian folk song, “Tavaszi Szél Vizet Áraszt.” The concert took place on July 27, 1986 at Budapest’s Népstadion for a reported 80,000 ticketholders and an estimated 45,000 additional fans listening outside the stadium.
The footage, shot on 35mm by what producers call “Hungary’s best cameramen,” has been restored to 4K quality using equipment at Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post Production facility in New Zealand. The producers also remixed the soundtrack, which will come out on CD and a triple-LP release in addition to the Blu-ray and DVD releases of the film on Oct. 30.
Queen concluded their Magic Tour with a concert on Aug. 9, 1986, in their native U.K. It would be the last time Mercury performed with the band prior to his death in 1991.
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