The Elton John biopic, titled Rocketman, is finally taking off as Tom Hardy has been chosen for the lead role, with Focus Features landing the U.S. distribution rights.
This has been a long time coming, as the project has been in development since 2011 with several actors attached to it at various points in time. For a while, Justin Timberlake was the favorite. This past Summer though, Hardy’s name popped up and now he seems to be confirmed.
The script was written by Lee Hall with help from John himself, so any worries about this being a crummy biopic can be put to rest. Apparently, the film will cover John’s childhood, his partnership with Bernie Taupin, his rise to fame and pretty much everything else in the famous musician’s interesting life.
Production isn’t set to begin until Fall 2014, so they’ve still got a while before they need to name a director and supporting cast members, but so far, they’re on the right track with Tom Hardy in the lead. He’s a tremendous talent and one of the most exciting actors out there. Though he only really broke out a couple of years ago with Christopher Nolan’s Inception, since then he’s continued to impress us and I can’t wait to see him sink his teeth into a meaty, starring role like this. All things considered, this part may even earn him some awards recognition, but it’s still way too early to speculate any further on that.
I guess the only question now is: can he sing?
Tell us, what do you think of Tom Hardy playing Elton John in Rocketman? Let us know in the comments section below.