Behind the scenes: Elton John ‘fantasy’ biopic Rocketman

Coming so soon after the crowd-pleasing success of Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, the larger-than-life, rags-to-riches story of Elton John will garner inevitable but unfair comparisons.

“It’s a musical based on the life of Elton John and his rise to stardom with more of a nod to a film like The Greatest Showman than to Bohemian Rhapsody in terms of style,” stresses Chris Dickens (Slumdog Millionaire), the film’s editor.

“This is not a documentary. It has a heightened reality.”

Indeed, Paramount promotes the picture as ‘a true fantasy’ unlike the Queen story which was criticised for self-censoring some of the more rock n roll aspects of its subject’s lifestyle.

It shares with Bohemian Rhapsody a chequered and long gestating history which at various times over the past few years has had Tom Hardy and Justin Timberlake attached to star.

Taron Egerton (who ironically appeared with Elton John in Kingsman: The Golden Circle) was ultimately cast as John in July 2017 and Dexter Fletcher signed on to direct in April 2018, after finishing the final month of filming Bohemian Rhapsody after original director Bryan Singer was fired. Principal photography began last August largely at Maidenhead’s Bray Studios.

Fletcher had previously demonstrated a lightness of touch with 2013’s Sunshine On Leith, based on music from The Proclaimers. Dickens was no stranger to musicals either, having cut Tom Hooper’s award laden feature adaptation of Les Misérables.

“In Les Misérables,…