We have liftoff! The Elton John biopic Rocketman has finally got a green light, with actor Taron Egerton in the lead role.
Deadline reports the Kingsman star will not only portray The Artist Formerly Known as Reg Dwight in the new film, but will perform some of his famous songs, too.
The biopic has been a long time in the making, with reports surfacing five years ago that Billy Elliott writer Lee Hall had already written the script. Since then, actors such as Tom Hardy and even Justin Timberlake have reportedly been eyeing the lead role.
Now it finally looks like it’s going ahead, with Taron taking the lead and Dexter Fletcher in the director’s chair. Dexter will certainly know a lot about staying true to musical legacies, as he’s just finished directing the beleaguered Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody starring Rami Malek as frontman Freddie Mercury.
Sir Elton’s husband David Furnish might be among the film’s producers, but don’t expect a whitewash. The film is billed as “an unvarnished rock ‘n’ roll biopic” that strips Sir Elton’s life of “glitter,” focussing on his path to music superstardom, from his emergence as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music to his partnership with songwriting collaborator Bernie Taupin, which led to the release of his 1973 breakout album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
There’s no release date for Rocketman yet, but fingers crossed it won’t be a long, long time.
Are you excited to see Sir Elton’s life on the big screen?