Taron Egerton is stepping into the immaculately glitzed and glittered shoes of a young Elton John.
The “Kingsman” star is set to star in “Rocketman” from Paramount Pictures, a comprehensive biopic covering the John’s rise from Royal Academy of Music standout, to the musician’s struggles with addiction throughout the 1990s, to his status as an international icon. Dexter Fletcher, who worked with Egerton on 2016’s “Eddie the Eagle,” is set to direct a script penned by “Billy Elliot” writer Lee Hall. “Kingsman” director Matthew Vaughn is onboard to coproduce alongside Elton John himself and the musician’s Rocket Pictures partner and spouse David Furnish.
Egerton, who is known for his easy secret agent suaveness but not his singing voice, has confirmed he will perform the film’s songs himself. It’s a bold move, but sources close to the film told Deadline that “everyone who has heard him has been gobsmacked by the quality of his voice.”
The star has already begun the recording process at London’s iconic Abbey Road Studios. According to Furnish, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, “Elton has told Taron, ‘Don’t copy me. Don’t think you have to sing it exactly the way that I sang it. Don’t think you have to perform it the way I performed it.’”
This isn’t the first collaboration between Egerton and John. The “Tiny Dancer” singer stepped into Egerton’s superspy world with an over-the-top appearance in “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” playing a heightened version of himself who — among many other things — battles a pair of robotic dogs.
