He will, he will rock you.
In 20th Century Fox's first teaser trailer for "Bohemian Rhapsody," the upcoming autobiographical drama about legendary rock band Queen, star Rami Malek channels lead singer Freddie Mercury like a doppelganger. Opening with Malek, 27, in various stage outfits across different concerts, the "Mr. Robot" Emmy Award-winner eerily embodies the late Mercury, from his longhaired early days with the British quartet to his close-cropped look and iconic mustache by 1985's Live Aid benefit concert.
"So now what?" Gwilym Lee, as Queen guitarist Brian May, asks Malek's Mercury, who sits behind a sound board in a barn-like studio. "This is where the operatic section comes in," Mercury answers cheerfully. "Huh. The operatic section. Yeah...," May says, bemused, as the trailer segues to that portion of the band's 1975 signature hit, "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Elsewhere in the 90-second trailer, Mercury tweaks a record-company executive who thinks the song, at nearly "six bloody minutes," is too long; scuffles with fellow band members in a studio; twirls happily with Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton), his partner until he realized he was gay; enters a gay club; and performs before a stadium crowd of tens of thousands. The trailer's soundtrack excerpts the title track as well as "Another One Bites the Dust," "Killer Queen" and "We Will Rock You."
The trailer debuted last month at the exhibitors' convention CinemaCon in Las Vegas, introduced by Malek and producer Graham King.
Opening Nov. 2, the movie also stars Ben Hardy, Joseph Mazzello, Aidan Gillen, Tom Hollander and Mike Myers.
Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara, of Parsi descent, died of AIDS complications in 1991, at age 45.
