The Queen/Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody seems to finally be on track as a new poster and teaser trailer were released today, building anticipation for the full trailer release tomorrow, after a round of setbacks, including a prolonged development and the firing of original director Bryan Singer,

The Rami Malek-led film tracks Queen’s meteoric rise from the band’s formation in 1970 to their famous reunion Live Aid performance in 1985, a few years before Mercury’s death. Now, those looking forward to the film can get their first non-still image look at Bohemian Rhapsody.

The official YouTube account for Queen released a short 10-second trailer teaser for Bohemian Rhapsody, which can be viewed above. Additionally the teaser poster, posted on Queen’s official Twitter, features Malek with Mercury’s famous mustache and sunglasses. See the poster below.


Bohemian Rhapsody has not been without its share of production troubles, as the film was initially announced way back in 2010, with Peter Morgan writing the screenplay and Sacha Baron Cohen in the lead role, with both David Fincher and Tom Hooper circling the project to direct. When that iteration fell through, apparently over disagreements between Cohen and the surviving members of Queen, Ben Whishaw was cast with Eddie the Eagle director Dexter Fletcher taking over. Fletcher eventually left over disagreements with producer Graham King.

The film looked to be coming together, finally, with the hiring of Darkest Hour scribe Andrew McCarten and director Bryan Singer, who brought on Rami Malek. Yet, as production got underway, Singer’s behavior reportedly became increasingly erratic, including late arrivals and repeated clashing with Malek, to the point that Singer’s regular cinematographer Newton Thomas-Sigel apparently took over directing duties when Singer no-showed after Thanksgiving last year. All of this coincided with allegations of sexual misconduct against Singer. Finally, in December, Singer was fired and replaced by previous director Fletcher, who finished the final two weeks of production and saw the film through post.

With all this drama surrounding production, it’s amazing the film was even finished at all. Since then, little has been seen from the film with only a still of Malek as Mercury being released last year, and two more released by 20th Century Fox last month. Yet the production kept going and the newly released teaser highlights how integral the music will be to the film, showcasing clips of multiple live performances, not surprising considering Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor serve as music producers on the film. While not showing much of Malek’s performance, we do get glimpses of him onstage and a short clip of Lucy Boynton as Mercury’s girlfriend Mary Austin. Stay tuned for the full trailer tomorrow.