AceShowbiz -

Production on the Freddie Mercury biopic titled "Bohemian Rhapsody" has been temporarily halted due to Bryan Singer's "unexpected unavailability." The movie starring Rami Malek as the late Queen frontman has been in production in London, but words are the director has not shown up on the set for the past three days.

On Friday, December 1, the studio behind the film said in a statement, "Twentieth Century Fox Film has temporarily halted production on 'Bohemian Rhapsody' due to the unexpected unavailability of Bryan Singer."

While the studio didn't specify the reason behind Singer's "unavailability," his reps later confirmed it in a separate statement, "This is a personal health matter concerning Bryan and his family. Bryan hopes to get back to work on the film soon after the holidays."

Sources tell Deadline that the film is about two weeks away from completing principal photography. Although Fox has been having discreet discussions with potential replacement helmers to finish the film even before Singer took a break, the studio might wait for him to return. The studio hopes the filmmaker's sabbatical won't affect the movie's planned December 25, 2018 release.

Named after Queen's 1975 hit single, the upcoming biopic will follow the iconic band from 1970, when Mercury teamed with Brian May and Roger Taylor, until their "Live Aid" concert in 1985. Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy and Joseph Mazzello are tapped to play May, Taylor and John Deacon, respectively.

Singer previously told EW that it's "not a traditional biopic." He explained, "It won't just be the dark Freddie story, but that being said, that [aspect of him] also will be honored. I would be remiss not to. There's a way to do it - without getting into the specifics of how I'm doing it - which has been discussed among all participants and we feel it's being honored, but at the same time, it's about the music."