Official trailer of Queen biopic starring Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury released – watch

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Official trailer of Queen biopic starring Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury released – watch

For years now, a biopic charting the rise of British arena rock band Queen has been in the making. An official trailer, prominently featuring Freddie Mercury as played by Rami Malek, was finally released late last night.

The film, titled Bohemian Rhapsody after the Queen classic, has been highly anticipated since its inception in 2010, but has also made plenty of headlines for the production problems it's suffered. Sacha Baron Cohen (best known as Borat in the titular film) was due to play Mercury, but left the project in 2013 over disputes with the remaining Queen members over the direction of the film.

Director Bryan Singer was fired from the film late last year over his "unexpected availability", two weeks before principal photography was completed. The film will also notably not chronicle the bisexual Mercury's struggle with – and eventual death from – AIDS, an omission which has upset those who would like to see Mercury's status as one of the most high-profile victims of the AIDS Crisis acknowledged in the film.

It is difficult, though, to watch the lavish trailer – which covers, among other things, the recording of 'Bohemian Rhapsody' – and not get excited.

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Watch the trailer below: