Back in July of last year it was reported that Taron Egerton was circling the lead in the long-gestating Elton John biopic Rocketman, and now comes word that the Kingsman star is officially on board and the project is close to a green light at Paramount Pictures.
Rocketman will reunite Egerton with his Eddie the Eagle director Dexter Fletcher and producer Matthew Vaughn, who also directed Egerton in the Kingsman films. Elton John, who himself cameod in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, will also produce with his Rocket Pictures partner David Furnish.
The film has been scripted by Lee Hall, and will explore the entertainer’s life in and out of the spotlight and “examine how he has become one of the best singer-composers of all time and how he has retained his fame in spite of scandals.”
As per Deadline, Egerton is set to take on singing duties himself, and has apparently left people “gobsmacked” with his renditions of the singer’s hits.
Rocketman will mark the second successive musical biopic for Dexter Fletcher, who stepped in as a replacement for Bryan Singer on the upcoming Freddie Mercury film Bohemian Rhapsody.