Taron Egerton is going from sharing the screen with Kingsman: The Golden Circle co-star Elton John to full-on portraying the pop legend. Here’s hoping he was taking detailed notes when they were filming the sequel.
Deadline reports that Egerton has been tapped to play Sir Elton in an upcoming biopic dubbed Rocketman. (Imagine how crushed several Harland Wiliams fans are gonna be when they discover it’s not a reboot of his ’90s comedy!) The film reunites Egerton with director Dexter Fletcher. The pair previously linked up for the biopic of ski jumper Eddie Edwards known as Eddie the Eagle.
According to Deadline, the film covers Elton’s journey, his musical partnership with Bernie Taupin and will be presented as “an unvarnished rock ‘n’ roll biopic with John’s life stripped back of the glitter.” The casting of Egerton shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to anyone tracking the development of this film. In 2017, Egerton said plans were in place for him to take the role during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show. He even noted that it could be the first R-rated musical, although there have been a number that have beaten Rocketman to the punch. Deadline reports that Egerton will sing the picture’s songs himself, which will be Egerton’s most high profile musical gig as a non-gorilla.
For anyone needing a Sir Elton micro-biopic in the meantime, David LaChapelle’s video for “This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore” still holds up. Yes, that’s Justin Timberlake.
(Via Deadline)
