Jamie Bell set to play Bernie Taupin in Elton John biopic

Jamie Bell is set to play songwriter Bernie Taupin in upcoming Elton John biopic Rocketman.
To be directed by Dexter Fletcher, the film will explore the music icon’s early years as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music through to his influential and enduring musical partnership with Bernie.
Welsh actor Taron Egerton has been tapped to play Elton, with Variety reporting on Wednesday (20Jun18) that Jamie is in final negotiations to portray famed lyricist Bernie.
Elton and Bernie met in 1967 when they both answered an advertisement placed in a U.K. music publication seeking new songwriters. They have since collaborated on more than 30 albums, with Bernie writing lyrics for hit songs such as Rocket Man, Crocodile Rock, Tiny Dancer, Bennie and the Jets, Daniel, and Your Song.
In addition, Bernie rewrote the lyrics to Candle in the Wind in 1997 as a tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
Famously, the 1991 documentary Two Rooms described Elton and Bernie’s unconventional writing style, which typically involved Bernie penning the lyrics on his own and Elton later putting them to music, with no interaction between the two.
In recent years, the duo have continued with the same creative process, though Bernie, 68, has joined Elton in the studio as the songs are written and sometimes during recording sessions.
Eddie the Eagle director Dexter will be working from a screenplay written by Lee Hall, with Elton, 71, and his husband David Furnish to produce alongside Kingsman: The Secret Service filmmaker Matthew Vaughn.
On Wednesday, Taron also indicated that production on the flick had begun, posting an image of him in what appears to be a costume with wings on his Twitter page.
“Here we go. #Rocketman @eltonofficial @ParamountPics,” he captioned the snap.
Jamie, who rose to prominence for his debut role in 2000 film Billy Elliot, was most recently seen onscreen in Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, which earned him a BAFTA nomination.