Sony Music Vision announced that Queen Budapest, the first Western stadium rock show to take place behind the Iron Curtain, and the final filmed live performance of the iconic rock band Queen, is being released in theaters and IMAX worldwide beginning October 7, 2026 through Trafalgar Releasing. This release is Sony Music Vision’s first official project with Queen, marking the beginning of Sony Music’s partnership with the band’s catalog.

Directed by János Zsombolyai, Queen Budapest marks the 40th anniversary of the pivotal moment in the band’s history, and the film has been restored in 4K from the original 35mm footage by Sir Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post Production facility in New Zealand, with newly remixed audio from the original multi-track 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, with some fans traveling from as far away as Russia and Poland to see the concert. The show was professionally shot on 35mm film by 17 of Hungary’s best cameramen. Equipment used 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, 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.

An edited version of the show was broadcast in December 1986 throughout the Communist Bloc, including China, Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Yugoslavia and Mongolia, along with 59 Hungarian cinemas on New Year’s Day 1987, another first for a Western rock act.

For Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor, the Budapest show wasn’t just another date on what was a huge tour, it held much deeper meaning.

The Queen Budapest 4K restoration has its world premiere at the Budapest Classics Film Marathon on September 15, 2026 hosted by the National Film Institute of Hungary, as part of the festival’s program celebrating restored and rediscovered cinema. A United Kingdom premiere takes place in London on September 30, 2026.

Queen Budapest is accompanied by a multi-format package via Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings and Hollywood Records October 30, 2026. The soundtrack, newly remixed from the original multi-track by Queen’s studio team, is released along with Blu-Ray, DVD, CD and Digital editions, as a 3LP vinyl set for the very first time.

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