The Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody has lost its director, Bryan Singer, in the middle of production.

A representative for 20th Century Fox said on Monday that Singer was no longer the director of the film.

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The Hollywood Reporter wrote on Monday that Singer failed to show up to the London set on a number of occasions. The actor Rami Malek who stars as Freddie Mercury in the film reportedly complained to the studio about Singer’s unprofessionalism on behalf of the cast. Fox had previously suspended production to allow Singer to deal with a “personal health matter”.

In a statement to the Hollywood Reporter Singer said that he was fired after Fox refused to allow him to take further time off from the production to deal with the “pressing health matters” concerning one of his parents, which he said had taken “a serious toll” on his own health. “I wanted nothing more than to be able to finish this project and help honor the legacy of Freddie Mercury and Queen, but Fox would not permit me to do so because I needed to temporarily put my health, and the health of my loved ones, first,” he said.

The director also denied that he left the production due to clashes with Malek. “While, at times, we did have creative differences on set, Rami and I successfully put those differences behind us and continued to work on the film together until just prior to Thanksgiving,” he said.

Studio representatives declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Singer’s departure or future plans for the film, which is currently slated for a December 2018 release.