Eagle Rock Entertainment has officially announced that it will release on Blu-ray Freddie Mercury The Great Pretender. Created by the same team behind the widely acclaimed Queen: Days of Our Lives BBC documentary, Freddie Mercury: The Great Pretender, in similar vein, presents a compelling insight into its subject matter, unearthing previously undiscovered or rarely seen footage. Street date is September 25th.
Produced and directed by Rhys Thomas, life-long Queen fan and expert (to the extent that Rhys famously broke the Mastermind all time record points score with a specialist subject of Queen), Rhys has this time turned his attention to the Freddie archive, going back as early as 1976 in search of vintage gems which reveal more than ever before the inside story of Freddie's life and career and the solo projects he worked on outside of Queen.
The extensive archive footage is drawn from rare interviews with Freddie, concerts, video shoots and personal material, much of it being seen for the first time, along with newly filmed contributions from fellow Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor, Queen manager Jim Beach, soprano Montserrat Caballe, composers David Arnold and Mike Moran, lyricist Tim Rice, comedian and lifelong fan Matt Lucas and many more.
Rhys, whose extensive scouting for lost material turned up a copy of the band's first TV appearance among the belongings of late comedian Dick Emery, brings to the light Freddie's earliest filmed interview from 1976 unearthed in Australia and another unseen interview from 1976 filmed by NBC in the USA.
Rhys also found 10 cans of Freddie's 39th Black and White birthday party in Mrs. Henderson's nightclub in Munich in 1985. Originally filmed for the video for "Living On My Own," and promptly banned by Freddie's record company because of its cross-dressing theme, there's much to be enjoyed in watching Freddie and his friends go full out in their efforts to help Freddie celebrate his last birthday before turning 40.
On top of this, The Great Pretender has a feast of outtakes from the video shoots for "I Want To Break Free," "One Vision," "Days of Our Lives," "I Want It All," "A Kind Of Magic," "Princes of the Universe," "Living on My Own," Born To Love You," "Great Pretender," "Made In Heaven," and "Who Wants to Live Forever."
As bonus features [that will not make up part of the version to be broadcast by the BBC] the program includes "Freddie Mercury Goes Solo" and an extended interview with Montserrat Caballe.
Note: Coinciding with the release of The Great Pretender Blu-ray will come the release of the new "Barcelona: Special Edition" album with Freddie and Montserrat's original album re-recorded with full 80 piece orchestra [a feature on the making of this album is included on both formats] and a new book, also entitled The Great Pretender with matching artwork, in September. The Savoy Hotel hosts the second "Freddie For A Day" charity event on September 3 in aid of The Mercury Phoenix Trust – Fighting Aids Worldwide and there is a special premiere of The Great Pretender film at BAFTA on September 6.
