Jamie Bell will play songwriter Bernie Taupin to Taron Egerton's Elton John in an upcoming biopic directed by Dexter Fletcher, the replacement director for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.
Bell has some coincidental connection with Elton John's music, as John wrote the music for the musical adaptation of 'Billy Elliot', which launched Bell's career as an actor. Not only that, Lee Hall - the screenwriter for Billy Elliot - is set to pen the screenplay here. Egerton, meanwhile, is best known for his role 'Kingsman' and - also coincidentally - its sequel starred Elton John as a heightened version of himself.
On top of that, 'Kingsman' director Matthew Vaughn will join Elton John and David Furnish as producers of the movie, tentatively titled 'Rocket Man'. There's no word as of yet on a release date or further casting, but given the interest surrounding 'Bohemian Rhapsody' - leaving aside Bryan Singer's exit from the production - it seems likely that 'Rocket Man' will enter production pretty quickly.
