Rocketman
Short description
Rocketman is a musical biopic about Elton John, tracing his path from a shy, piano-playing boy named Reginald Dwight to worldwide fame. Raised in a London suburb, he studies at the Royal Academy of Music, then moves to the capital, where his songwriting partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin takes shape. Adopting a new name and increasingly elaborate stage costumes, he becomes one of Britain's biggest pop stars, but success brings personal strain as much as triumph.
Dexter Fletcher directed the film, his fourth feature after Wild Bill, Sunshine on Leith and Eddie the Eagle. Lee Hall wrote the screenplay, and Lawrence Bender, Matthew Vaughn and Adam Bohling produced. Taron Egerton plays Elton John, with Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin, Richard Madden as John Reid, and Bryce Dallas Howard, Gemma Jones and Steven Mackintosh among the supporting cast. The production brought together around 190 credited cast members and 170 credited crew.
Made for about 40 million US dollars, the film took roughly 167 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on its budget. On IMDb it holds 7.3 out of 10 from some 208,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.3 out of 10 from about 5,000 votes. A critics' rating of 7.7 out of 10 from 401 reviews places it somewhat above those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- This is Dexter Fletcher’s second biographical film with a musical theme. He also worked on "Bohemian Rhapsody" after Brian Singer’s departure.
- One of the main obstacles in creating the film was that many producers were willing to work on a film that would be rated PG-13 (in the American Film Association's rating system – not recommended for children under 13). Elton John told them all that he had not lived a life that could be contained within that particular rating.
- Decorating certain parts of Sunset Boulevard in the style of the 1970s would have been very expensive, so the filmmakers simply 'cleaned up' footage of the Troubadour club, shot in the early part of the decade on 35mm film.
- Taron Egerton performs all the vocal parts in the film himself.
- The film's title is taken from an Elton John song released in 1972.
- At one point, Justin Timberlake was indeed in negotiations to star in the biopic as Elton John. Timberlake had previously played John in the music video for the song “This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore” (2001).
- Tom Hardy was initially cast in the lead role, and work on the film had already been underway for three years when Hardy's work schedule interfered with his continued participation in the project, and the actor left.
- Throughout the film, Taron Egerton is shown wearing 53 different pairs of glasses.
- In 2012, Elton John admitted that he would prefer Justin Timberlake to play him in a biopic about his life.
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