Mercury rising in Bohemian Rhapsody
TWENTIETH Century Fox has released the first trailer for the upcoming musical drama, Bohemian Rhapsody, a cinematic celebration of rock band Queen that spotlights the band’s iconic lead singer Freddie Mercury.
Mercury is played by Rami Malek in the upcoming film, which traces the band’s meteoric rise, near-fall and reunion for its famed Live Aid performance at London’s Wembley Arena in 1985.
In the teaser trailer, the band is seen glammed out on stage as well as in the studio, where Mercury is shown shaping their singular sound.
Malek, who previously starred in the TV series, Mr Robot, is joined by fellow cast members including Mike Myers, Ben Hardy, Gwilym Lee, Joseph Mazzello, Allen Leech, and Lucy Boynton, while Dexter Fletcher directs.
Malek ( below) cuts an impressive figure in the role of Mercury, bearing a striking resemblance to the late British singer-songwriter and Queen frontman.
The American actor told the audience at the recent annual CinemaCon event in Las Vegas that the film would be an exceptional, monumental movie.
He said: “One thing I will say is when I got this role, I thought this could be a career-defining performance; about two minutes later, I thought this could be a career killer.”
In the works for several years, Bohemian Rhapsody has been delayed setbacks. When the project was announced in 2010, British actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen (of Borat fame) was lined up to play Mercury, before by various creative differences with the surviving members of Queen led him to pull out of the film. It was only in late 2016 that Malek was revealed as the replacement, following rumours suggesting Daniel Radcliffe ( Harry Potter), Dominic Cooper ( Agent Carter) or – more seriously – Ben Whishaw (Q in Skyfall and Spectre) for the film’s lead role. Just when everything seemed to be back on track, production encountered another glitch in December 2017, when director Bryan Singer was fired from the film and replaced two days later by Fletcher. Bohemian Rhapsody is now slated f o r r elease on Nov 2 in the US, preceded by a UK release on Oct 24. – AFPRelaxnews