Bohemian Rhapsody: Malaysian cinema operator denies major cuts to Queen biopic

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

It was reported yesterday that censors in Malaysia had cut 24 minutes from Queen film Bohemian Rhapsody.

The Malay Mail gathered reports from social media suggesting that the 134-minute running time had been slashed to 110-minutes, with the scene showing the actors filming the video for I Want To Break Free and a scene where Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek) tells Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton) that he’s bisexual culled from the film due to the country’s strict laws on homosexuality.

But, according to Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC), that’s not the case.

A post on their Facebook page says: “The runtime for Bohemian Rhapsody in Malaysia is 131 minutes. The runtime in the US is 134 minutes – so it’s definitely not 20 minutes cut. Get the facts right.”

GSC add: “The censorship is between the studio and the censorship board. Cinemas can't simply censor movies. We are only playing the content.”

That means three-minutes have been sliced from the film, which remains an 18 certificate in Malaysia. In the US and UK, Bohemian Rhapsody carries a PG-13 rating.

Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and punishable under federal law.

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody

Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
The official soundtrack to the Queen biopic features previously unreleased audio from Live Aid, new versions of old favourites and a selection of songs from the band’s back catalogue.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent 35 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott keeps Louder’s buyer’s guides up to date, writes about the best deals for music fans, keeps on top of the latest tech releases and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more for Louder. Over the last 10 years, Scott has written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, The Tragically Hip, Marillion and Rush.