As soon as the teaser trailer for the upcoming Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody hit, I was basically on board. Today, a new, longer, more in-depth trailer has surfaced, showing the wide range of topics the movie hopes to cover and it further cements to me that this film is can't miss.
Rami Malek (Mr. Robot) does a stellar job exuding Mercury's confidence and introspection in the brief glimpses we are seeing in these trailers. This might be a big break out role for him. Take a look:
The trailer also seems to address some criticism of the teaser, that featured very little of his bisexuality (one quick shot) and the accompanying blurb downplayed his AIDS diagnosis, describing it as a “facing a life-threatening illness.” While the producers of the film have said they are not going to focus on Mercury's last days, but rather more of highs for him and the entire band, they clearly address it within the movie.
Somewhat related – before Malek was pegged to play Mercury, Sacha Baron Cohen was to play the part before having a falling out with the band and producers over the direction of the film. Cohen went on to launch a new show for Showtime, Who Is America?, and in the show he plays a character who is an Israeli anti-terrorist expert named Col. Erran Morad. I couldn't help but notice the startling similarity between Cohen's makeup and how much he looked like Freddie Mercury:
