First Look at Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody!

First look at Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody

20th Century Fox, New Regency and GK Films have released the first photo of star Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in the upcoming Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. Check it out in the gallery below (via EW).

The film, featuring X-Men franchise director Bryan Singer at the helm, chronicles the band’s formation in 1970 all the way until their performance at Live Aid in 1985. Malek revealed to the outlet that when it comes time for him to be singing in the feature film, they will utilize not only his own voice, but also recordings of Mercury and a sound alike to fill in the gaps.

Singer also revealed that the film won’t be a “traditional biopic” and will instead focus on the music of the band. “It won’t just be the dark Freddie story, but that being said, that also will be honored. It’s about collaboration. It’s a celebration.”

Bohemian Rhapsody, the most recent draft of which hails from Academy Award-nominated scribe Anthony McCarten (The Theory of Everything), will tell the story of Mercury and his iconic rock band, Queen. Queen formed in London in the 1970s and is known today for hits like “We Will Rock You,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Killer Queen,” “Don’t Stop Me Now,” and many, many more. It hasn’t been specified exactly how much of Queen’s history will appear in Bohemian Rhapsody and there’s a good two decades between the band forming and Mercury’s tragic death in 1991.

In addition to Malek, the Queen band members will be played by Joe Mazzello, Ben Hardy, and Gwilym Lee.

Bohemian Rhapsody is set to arrive in theaters on Christmas Day in 2018.