Work on the upcoming Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody has shut down because of the sudden absence of director Bryan Singer.

The film's production company Twentieth Century Fox released a statement on Friday (December 1) explaining that Singer had not returned from the Thanksgiving break in order continue shooting the story of Queen.

"Twentieth Century Fox Film has temporarily halted production on Bohemian Rhapsody due to the unexpected unavailability of Bryan Singer," the studio told The Hollywood Reporter.

Bryan Singer's own spokesperson was just as vague about the reasons for his absence when reached for comment on Friday by BBC News, describing this situation only as "a personal health matter" concerning Bryan and his family.

"Bryan hopes to get back to work on the film soon after the holidays," his spokesperson stressed.

Singer departed the X-Men franchise last year to begin working on Bohemian Rhapsody, which is being produced in coordination with the late Freddie Mercury's Queen bandmates Brian May and Roger Taylor.

Robert De Niro is also producing the project, which stars Primetime Emmy Award-winning Mr Robot star Rami Malek as the legendary Queen frontman.

Getty Images

Other members of the Bohemian Rhapsody cast include X-Men's Ben Hardy as Queen drummer Roger Taylor, Midsomer Murders' Gwilym Lee as guitarist Brian May and Justified's Joseph Mazzello as bassist John Deacon.

Bohemian Rhapsody is currently slotted to reach US cinemas on Christmas Day, 2018.

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