Global Theatrical Release via Trafalgar Releasing in Cinemas & IMAX® Worldwide Beginning October 7. Details at QueenBudapest.com
Available October 30 on 3LP, 2CD and Digital via Columbia/Legacy Recordings (internationally) and Hollywood Records (U.S. and Canada)
DVD and Blu-ray editions also arrive October 30 via Columbia/Legacy Recordings. Pre-order Here
Film Features Queen’s ‘Radio Ga Ga’ Performance — Capturing One of the Show’s Most Defining Moments. Watch Here
“The image quality is wonderful – you’ll feel like you’re there. In IMAX, it is going to be colossal” – Brian May
“It turned out to be the last ever tour we did with Freddie. We were very much at a peak. Great memories of that tour” – Roger Taylor
NEW YORK, NY – July 27, 2026 – Sony Music Vision is proud to announce that Queen Budapest, the first Western stadium rock show to take place behind the Iron Curtain, and the final filmed Queen live performance, will be presented in cinemas and IMAX worldwide beginning October 7 through Trafalgar Releasing. This release also is Sony Music Vision’s first official project with Queen, marking the beginning of Sony Music’s official partnership with the catalog.
Queen Budapest will be released to mark the 40th anniversary of this pivotal moment in the band’s history, and the film has been meticulously restored in 4K from the original filmed 35mm footage by Sir Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post Production facility in New Zealand, with newly remixed audio from the original multitrack recordings to deliver the most immersive presentation of the performance to date.
Captured on July 27, 1986, at Budapest’s Népstadion, during the band’s ‘The Magic Tour’, the concert was a groundbreaking moment, as Queen became the first Western rock band to perform behind the Iron Curtain during a period of profound cultural and political change. In addition to 80,000 tickets selling out, an estimated 45,000 people listened to the group outside, and some fans had travelled from as far away as Russia and Poland to see the concert. The show was professionally filmed on 35 mm movie film by 17 of Hungary’s best cameramen. The gear employed included 17 cameras and 25 miles of film, which was all that was available in the country, and the Hungarian government approved the entire operation, which was a first for a Communist State.
With the scale of the achievement, it would have been impossible to imagine that Queen would go on to play only a further 5 shows, ending forever their touring days with Freddie only one month later, with their final show played at Knebworth Park in England on August 9, 1986.
Queen Budapest is the last filmed live performance of the band with Freddie Mercury, showing the band at the height of their powers as a live act. The film captures the band performing iconic hits such as We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions, A Kind Of Magic, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Under Pressure, Who Wants To Live Forever, Hammer To Fall and Bohemian Rhapsody as well as an acoustic arrangement of the traditional Hungarian folk song “Tavaszi Szél Vizet Áraszt”. It also features a standout moment from Radio Ga Ga, with newly enhanced footage and audio from the Budapest performance, available here.
An edited version of the show was broadcast in December 1986 throughout the Communist Bloc, including China, Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Yugoslavia and Mongolia, as well as to 59 Hungarian cinemas on New Year’s Day 1987, which again was a first for a Western rock act.
For Queen’s Brian May & Roger Taylor, the show in Budapest wasn’t just another date on what was a huge tour for the band, it held much deeper meaning.
Brian May, “For years, fans behind the Iron Curtain had been able to listen to Queen music only on illegal cassettes. It was a forbidden thing to listen to rock bands like us, so to see them play in a live show would have been unthinkable. This concert, when they could finally come and see us live in person and interact with us, was a huge emotional moment for them and also for us. It felt like a very big deal – you could feel that incredible energy. There will never be an event quite like that again. Perhaps the most memorable highlight of all was performing that beautiful Hungarian folk song, which Freddie and I had learned for the occasion. Not a dry eye!”
Roger Taylor, “We did love to think that the music could transcend the politics, the political barriers, and that was sort of part of our ethos, to actually bring the audience into the show and make them feel part of the show. I know Freddie tried to learn this folk song, but he had the words written phonetically on the back of his hand. When the audience just started singing, we realised, wow, music really can be a great cause.”
Brian May, “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. I think you’re going to love it. For the sound, we’ve been able to do some top quality restoration work as well. Now, in IMAX and movie theatres, it’s going to be definitively the most real experience ever of us, Queen, in our glory days. I think people will get lost in it and even forget they’re watching a film.”
“Queen Budapest represents a remarkable moment in both music and cultural history,” said Tom Mackay, President, Sony Music Vision. “The film not only documents an extraordinary performance, but also the connection between the band and an audience breaking through real barriers at the time. The restoration allows that moment to be experienced in a way that feels immediate and relevant for audiences today.”
Peter Jackson added, “As long time fans of Queen we were thrilled when they asked Park Road Post to restore the Budapest Concert footage. It has been a rare privilege to breathe new life into such an iconic moment in music history. We look forward to a whole new audience participating in the original band’s final live performance, captured on film. They will rock you!!!”
The 4K restoration of Queen Budapest will have its world premiere at the Budapest Classics Film Marathon on September 15, hosted by the National Film Institute of Hungary, as part of the festival’s program celebrating restored and rediscovered cinema. A UK premiere will take place in London on September 30, with further details to follow. The 4K digitization of the original negatives was carried out by the National Film Institute (NFI), Hungary’s FilmLab in Budapest. The original elements of the film were preserved by NFI Film Archive in Budapest since 1986. Queen Budapest will be released globally in cinemas and IMAX from October 7 for a limited time only, in partnership with Trafalgar Releasing. Tickets will be on sale later this summer. Fans are encouraged to sign up at the official website at QueenBudapest.com for further information and to be alerted when pre-sale tickets are available.
Queen Budapest will be accompanied by a multi-format package via Legacy Recordings, the catalogue division of Sony Music, internationally and Hollywood Records in the U.S. and Canada on October 30. The soundtrack, newly remixed from the original multitrack by Queen’s studio team, will be released alongside the Blu-Ray, DVD, CD & Digital editions as a 3LP vinyl set for the very first time. Pre-order here.
Queen Budapest is directed by János Zsombolyai. Sony Music Vision is the distributor.
For images and marketing materials, see here.
The post Sony Music Vision Announces Queen Budapest Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the First Western Stadium Rock Show Behind the Iron Curtain & the Final Filmed Queen Live Performance Restored in 4K appeared first on Sony Music.
