After Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, a legendary Queen concert at the cinema

After Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, it's the turn of the group Queen, filmed in concert in 1981 in Montreal, to invade the big screens in theaters with Imax technology, from January 18 to 21. It is “the very first time” that a concert by singer Freddie Mercury's group will be broadcast in the cinema, according to a joint press release from Imax, a company promising an immersive experience and Pathé Live, a broadcaster offering any room the screening of cultural events. Queen Rock Montreal must be screened in 450 Imax theaters in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, South Africa, Australia, Brazil and even Mexico.

Known as Queen Rock Montreal, this live performance had previously been released on VHS or DVD. The concert opens with a supercharged version of We will rock you. There are other standards like Somebody to love, Under pressure, Bohemian rhapsody or We are the champions. “I think we didn't quite understand at the time that this film captured one of the highest peaks of any Queen concert during our glory days on stage,” comments guitarist Brian May in the press release.

“The director was focused on Freddie”, thus delivering “the most precious and intimate recording” of the “full power” of the singer, who died in 1991 as a result of AIDS.

The phenomenon of concert films is booming (even if it is not new) and had a particularly rich year in 2023 with eleven shows transposed to cinemas in the space of a year by Pathé Live.