Bohemian Rhapsody may seem an unlikely candidate for success at the Oscars, but there are plenty of reasons to believe the movie could scoop at least one of the main awards.
The film certainly made its mark at the box office, making over $600 million worldwide despite having a production budget of just $50m.
There has already been plenty of money invested in the Oscar betting markets in the run-up to the event and the Queen biopic has attracted plenty of support in a couple of categories.
Punters have made Bohemian Rhapsody third favourite to win the Best Picture award behind Roma and A Star is Born after its success at the Golden Globes.
It was one of the biggest winners of the night after success in the best drama film category, while Rami Malek also won the best actor in a drama prize for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury.
Malek fancied to see off Bale challenge
Malek’s success saw his odds in the Oscars betting to win the Best Actor award slashed and he is currently odds-on favourite ahead of Christian Bale.
The British-born star delivered a superb performance as former vice president Dick Cheney in Vice, but Malek is strongly fancied to scoop another award.
Having overcome various troubles during both pre-production and production, success at the Oscars for Bohemian Rhapsody would also be just reward for the efforts of executive producer, Dexter Fletcher.
The American replaced director Bryan Singer who left the project during filming and the finished movie is testament to his cinematic flair.
Biopics popular with voters
History is also on the side of the film, with Oscar voters generally loving movies about famous famous people.
‘Darkest Hour’, ‘The Post’ and ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ are amongst the biopics nominated for Best Picture over the past couple of years, meaning 27 out of 81 nominees for the award have been based on true stories since 2009.
However, it is Malek’s performance as Mercury that undoubtedly lifts Bohemian Rhapsody into another stratosphere and he looks one of the most interesting bets at the Oscars.
While the likes of Roma and A Star is Born are strong contenders to win numerous awards, Malek’s representation of a musical genius could see Bohemian Rhapsody deservedly rewarded at the 2019 Oscars.
