Elton John's Colorful Life to Become Musical Film

Rocketman, a film biography of musician Elton John, is being prepared for the big screen by the singer and his husband, David Furnish, and Billy Elliot collaborator Lee Hall, reports Entertainment Weekly's Dave Karger.

Karger reports that the screenplay will focus on "the 64-year-old Brit's phenomenal success in the 1970s, his battles with drugs and alcohol in the 1980s, and ultimately his search for stability in the 1990s." Furnish tells EW that the film won't be a standard linear biopic. "It will go back and forth in time, "Furnish says. "It'll be Elton's life reimagined as how he might like to remember it, rather than how it really happened."

John and Furnish are discussing possible directors, including Moulin Rouge's Baz Luhrmann or The Hours' Stephen Daldry. Among the actors being considered to play John is Atonement star James McAvoy. Furnish also says that since John's appearance has changed so much during his long career, they might follow the lead of I'm Not There, Todd Haynes's take on Bob Dylan, and employ multiple actors to play the singer.

"We've always thought there was a wonderful cinematic opportunity to tell Elton's life story," Furnish says. "But we wanted to wait until the time was exactly right. Elton feels very excited about doing it now -- he's in a very happy place in life right now and thinks it's a good time to artistically reflect on the past."