Bohemian Rhapsody film editor responds to criticism

The Oscar-winning editor of Bohemian Rhapsody John Ottman has responded to criticism over its editing.

A scene from the film of Queen meeting manager John Reid went viral when it was mocked for its number of edits.

Ottman told the Washington Post whenever he sees the scene: "I want to put a bag over my head. Because that's not my aesthetic."

The film has just overtaken The Greatest Showman for its first month of sales.

Bohemian Rhapsody, which won more Oscars than any other film this year, sold 853,000 physical copies and digital downloads in its first four weeks, compared to The Greatest Showman which sold 845,500 in the equivalent time.

Ottman won the Oscar for best film editing but some have jokingly suggested it should have won a prize for most editing instead.

He was unaware that one scene in the film had gone viral because of its high number of edits.

"Oh, my God! Wow," he said. "I didn't know about that, but I know why that's out there."

He explained that scene was one of the scenes shot by Dexter Fletcher, who took over directing when Bryan Singer was fired for unreliable behaviour.

He said that when Fletcher took over, the film's storyline got reordered slightly and dialogue in the original scene no longer made sense, so had to be reshot.

Ottman said he was under pressure to make the film's first act move swiftly, but test audiences actually wanted more of the band's early days.

He went back and let those scenes breathe more but he didn't have time to do that with that one scene.

Ottman added if there is ever an "extended version of the film where I can put a couple scenes back, I will recut that scene!"