Rocketman: first trailer for Elton John biopic released

The first trailer has been released for Rocketman, the forthcoming film about the life of Sir Elton John.

Kingsman's Taron Egerton plays the singer, alongside Bodyguard star Richard Madden as his manager and partner John Reid. "There are moments in a rock star's life that define who he is," Madden says, in the trailer's voiceover. "Where there was darkness, there is now you – and it's going to be a wild ride."

The film, which is set for release in May next year, has been described by Egerton as a "fantasy musical" rather than a straightforward biopic, while the trailer boasts that the film is "based on a true fantasy".

"It’s actually his songs used to express important beats in his life at emotional moments," Egerton said. "He’s not the only character that sings. It’s going to be fun.” 

The film follows the early years of the chart-topping singer's career, and his rise to fame. Its cast also includes Jamie Bell as his lyricist Bernie Taupin and Bryce Dallas Howard as his mother Sheila Eileen.

The film is produced by John himself, and his partner David Furnish, through their company Rocket Pictures.

Billy Eliot writer Lee Hall has written the screenplay, while Dexter Fletcher will direct.

Fletcher, who directed the acclaimed 2013 Proclaimers musical Sunshine on Leith, is also partly responsible for another forthcoming rock biopic: Bohemian Rhapsody, out on October 24. Fletcher took over the troubled biopic of Queen singer Freddie Mercury after its original director Bryan Singer was fired.