A well-chosen Elton John song instantly elevates virtually any Hollywood scene. Just ask Cameron Crowe, whose spot on selections of “My Father’s Gun” and “Tiny Dancer” bolstered key scenes in Elizabethtown and Almost Famous, respectively. Imagine, then, the potential potency of a film composed entirely of tunes from John’s famous songbook?
No, I’m not talking about Gnomeo & Juliet, though that animated tale of ceramic love might have been a trial run for an Elton John biopic that’s currently in the works. Deadline reports that John and David Furnish, through Rocket Pictures, will produce Rocketman, a musical trip through the flamboyant award winner’s triumphant memories. The film, which John will have a hand in developing, will trace the artist’s steps from being an 11-year-old piano prodigy through his greatest professional successes.
Deadline says John will re-team with Lee Hall, the driving force behind the stage sensation Billy Elliot, to bring Rocketman to life. They are promising “a radically different kind of biopic,” and knowing all that we know about John, that’s inevitable. The next step will be luring a director and finding actors who could play John at various stages of his career. Don’t be too surprised if the film takes a Meta approach and finds some way for John to appear – even briefly – as himself on screen.
As Deadline notes, musician biopics are hardly new. In addition to the past Oscar winners such as Ray, Shine, La Vie En Rose or Walk the Line, screenwriter Peter Morgan’s also pushing a Freddie Mercury biopic through the system, with Sacha Baron Cohen attached to play the late Queen singer.
