Queen’s last filmed concert with Freddie Mercury is heading to cinemas worldwide, including IMAX screens.
The concert film, Queen Budapest, captures the band’s July 27th, 1986 performance at Népstadion in front of 80,000 fans, with a further 45,000 punters reportedly listening on from outside the stadium. It remains the last time Queen were filmed performing live with Mercury before his death in 1991 — the band played just one more show, at Knebworth Park, before wrapping the tour.
Shot on 35mm film by Hungarian cameramen, the footage has been restored to 4K at Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post Production facility in New Zealand, per Rolling Stone, with the original soundtrack remixed for the release.
The film includes a new interview with Brian May and Roger Taylor reflecting on the concert, and a 25-song set featuring “We Will Rock You,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Are the Champions,” “Under Pressure,” “Another One Bites the Dust” and an acoustic rendition of a Hungarian folk song.
“The image quality is wonderful. You’ll feel like you’re there. In IMAX, it is going to be colossal,” May said. “Peter Jackson’s team have done a magnificent job of restoring the original film footage at the highest resolution ever; it’s pristine, and the quality is breathtaking.”
The Budapest show carried extra weight at the time, coming as it did during the Cold War. For years, fans on the other side of the Iron Curtain had only been able to hear Queen’s music through illegal cassette recordings, making the band’s arrival in Hungary a rare and significant moment.
Love Music?
Get your daily dose of metal, rock, indie, pop, and everything else in between.
“For years, fans behind the Iron Curtain had been able to listen to Queen music only on illegal cassettes,” May said. “This concert, when they could finally come and see us live in person…was a huge emotional moment for them, and also for us.”
“It turned out to be the last ever tour we did with Freddie. We were very much at a peak,” Taylor added. “We did love to think that the music could transcend the politics, the political barriers…music really can be a great cause.”
Queen Budapest will hit cinemas on October 7th, including IMAX, ahead of a physical media release on Friday, October 30th.
Click here for details on tickets.
