Image Credit: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images
In one of his lesser-known hits, 1985′s “In Neon,” Elton John sang about a woman who dreams of movie stardom and seeing her name on a billboard. If he ever shared that dream, it’s now coming true. Sir Elton and his partner, David Furnish, are prepping Rocketman, a biopic about the rock icon’s life. Written by their Billy Elliot collaborator Lee Hall, the film will document the ups and downs of his life and career, through fantastical musical sequences. “We’ve always thought there was a wonderful cinematic opportunity to tell Elton’s life story,” Furnish tells EW. “But we wanted to wait until the time was exactly right. Elton feels very excited about doing it now — he’s in a very happy place in life right now and thinks it’s a good time to artistically reflect on the past.”
With the script now ready, the pair are searching for a director and star (or perhaps stars) to play Elton, who’s now 64. ”Elton has lived a very extraordinary and unique life,” says Furnish, referring to his spouse’s enormous success as well as his battles with drugs and alcohol. “You can’t tell his life story without going to the dark places. We’re going to touch on those too. But at the end, we want people to come away from the cinema feeling inspired and uplifted.”
For more details on Rocketman, check out next week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly, on stands Sept. 30.
Dave on Twitter: @davekarger
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Oh, snaps! Who will play Elton? Philip Seymour Hoffman, that’s the first name that comes to mind.
Other sites are reporting that James McAvoy is the frontrunner.
“McAvoy is the frontrunner”
Yes, but who’s the “rear jogger?”
James McAvoy? Elton can only wish he’d been that cute. Maybe Neal Patrick Harris for young Elton (still too cute) and Hoffman for old, fat Elton.
I vote for Dame Edna to play Elton.
“Sir Elton and his partner, David Furnish.”
They’ve been together 21 yrs. Yes, a lot of (heterosexual) married couples see themselves as partners, but why is it almost always when a gay couple is mentioned – even if they are married – they are refereed to as partners? What, do Elton & David own a business together or own a law firm they’re partners in? Now, perhaps they prefer the terms ‘”partners” or “lovers” but if this was a male/female couple, at the very least they would be refereed to as boyfriend/girlfriend. Enough with the double standard, please.
yep those are chocolate chip cekioos I made a while back hahaha I love cekioos!!! The second pic was outside my school, I think it might have actually been a double rainbow, but I didn’t get my camera in time to catch it.
PSH is a great actor, but seriously, he looks as old as Elton is now. I would have a really hard time seeing PSH as a young, vital Elton John.
Elton John was great until he married Yoko and broke up the Beatles.
I could see Ben Folds playing him in the 70′s
Justin timberlake.
If Justin could nail the accent, he would be great.
Justin did one of those british talk shows with Mila and he did the british accent fooling around. He did it really good so he would be a good choice for Elton at a certain age.
JT is tall and lanky, which EJ never was.
Yeah, Justin did great playing Elton in his video for This Train Don’t Stop. He could be a younger Elton.
If they can make Elijah Wood look smaller than he if they can make Justin Timberlake short enough to play Elton John.
His all time classic is “Don’t Go Snaking my Fart.” Also of note is “Don’t Let the Dung Run Brown on Me.” Great stuff from a true master.
Lol
Seriously???
Hmmm… I wish Elton would write his autobiography instead. That would make this fan very very happy.
Justin Timberlake definitely needs to be one of the stars…he played him very well in one of his past music videos
EWAN MCGREGOR needs to play this part!
Better him than James McAvoy.
DOMINIC MONAGHAN.
Neil Patrick Harris!!!!!!!
Please no Justin Timberlake.
This is so exciting I can’t wait to see it… Love you both…an the babe…^_^
Hot off his Emmy win, Peter Dinklage should get the role of Elton. That would be perfect.
I’d love to play him on film.. I play him on the stage already and sound like he did in the early years
Betty White as Elton!
And Pee-Wee Herman as the “spouce”.
That would be a really great film. I am a huge Elton John fan, and I honestly think it has been time for a biopic of Elton.
If it’s told mostly through musical numbers, this could be very interesting. I think it would be great if they followed “I’m not there” and get different people of both sexes to depict him during various stages of his career/life.