Queen Budapest: film release and avatar plans

Queen's restored film Queen Budapest hits cinemas October 7, and the band's guitarist Brian May is publicly weighing an ABBA Voyage–style avatar residency as a longer-term way to bring the group back to stages. Fans can reconnect first via restored screenings and special events in October.

Film release

Queen Budapest captures the band's July 27, 1986 gig at Budapest’s Népstadion — the first western stadium rock show behind the Iron Curtain — and is prized as the last filmed live performance of the quartet with Freddie Mercury. The newly restored print will roll out worldwide on October 7, with a specially staged preview in London on October 3.

At London’s Roundhouse across two October 3 screenings the restoration will be shown on a giant LED screen with surround sound and synchronised lighting, and original Queen merchandise on display to re-create the concert atmosphere. Brian May pitches the screenings as an unusually vivid way to relive the band at full throttle: “It’s going to be definitively the most real experience ever of us, Queen, in our glory days,” says May.

Avatar plans

May has discussed the possibility of an immersive, avatar-driven residency for Queen — a format made famous by ABBA’s ABBAtars at the 3,000-seat ABBA Arena in east London. ABBA Voyage opened in May 2022 and reportedly sold more than 380,000 tickets within weeks of launch; the model has since inspired other acts to commission avatar projects, including Kiss, who plan a Las Vegas avatar show slated for 2028 with Industrial Light & Magic.

May has said he seriously considered an avatar show and sketched concepts after seeing recent large-scale visual venues, but he also flagged ethical and practical concerns around heavy use of A.I. and the potential impacts on other artists’ work. Rather than promise a residency, he treats the idea as open but undecided.

For now, the immediate way to feel like you’re back at a Queen performance is the restored film and its enhanced screenings — the most direct chance for fans to experience the band’s live power before any avatar project moves forward. Read May’s full comments in his Absolute Radio interview.