Fresh from finishing up shooting on Bryan Singer’s Queen movie Bohemian Rhapsody, filmmaker Dexter Fletcher is lining up a biopic musical of his own – this time focused on Elton John. Rocketman already has its bespectacled lead in Taron Egerton – who proved he could belt out John’s music effortlessly in Sing – and now the cast has a new addition in Richard Madden.
The former Game of Thrones star looks set to play John Reid, Elton’s manager who worked with him for over three decades. Madden played Robb Stark in HBO’s fantasy epic until… well, if you’ve seen the show you’ll know. Since then he’s starred in Disney’s live-action Cinderella and Netflix’s feature film comedy Ibiza.
Rocketman will be Egerton’s second film with Fletcher, who previously directed Eddie the Eagle, and comes from Matthew Vaughn’s new Marv Films studio (formerly a production company). The only other cast member currently confirmed is Jamie Bell as John’s longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin. Speaking to Empire, Vaughn previously said that Rocketman will be “the first R-rates musical”, with “drugs, sex, rock’n’roll”.
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