If the 2018 film musical belonged to Rami Malek and the award-winning Bohemian Rhapsody, then this year is all about another industry icon – Sir Elton John.
He’ll be the focus of a new biopic entitled Rocketman, in which Taron Egerton, star of Kingsman and the ill-fated Robin Hood movie, embodies John – from the star-spangled suits down to his beloved singing voice.
Don’t believe us? Might we point you in the direction of Egerton and John’s incredible duet, which took place at the singer’s Academy Awards viewing party. So while Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper stole headlines left, right and center for their incredibly intimate rendition of “Shallow” at the 2019 Oscars ceremony, on the other side of Tinsel Town, Taron Egerton and the inimitable Elton John were performing “Tiny Dancer” and, in doing so, offered audience members a sneak peek of what we can expect from the Rocketman biopic.
It’s fair to say that Egerton sounds incredible as the young Elton John, so we expect Paramount Pictures to take full advantage of those vocal cords come May. In short, expect another boon in record sales for EJ, who’s currently in the midst of a three-year farewell tour.
Rocketman is due to light up theaters on May 31st – day and date with a little-known creature feature called Godzilla: King of the Monsters – and if it’s able to match the box office fortune of Bohemian Rhapsody ($800M-plus), then Paramount will be laughing all the way to the bank.
As luck would have it, Dexter Fletcher is the director responsible for Rocketman. And if that name rings a bell, it should; he was the one who took over control of Bohemian Rhapsody soon after Bryan Singer went AWOL. Can Fletcher capture lightning in a bottle once more? We’ll find out in three months’ time.
