LAS VEGAS (CelebrityAccess) CinemaCon, which wraps today at The Colosseum At Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, has unveiled footage for upcoming films “The Lion King,” “Toy Story 4” and “Rocketman,” among others, and the latter Elton John movie was viewed by Deadline Hollywood.
“This footage was different from what recently was shown to press in Los Angeles,” Deadline said. “It started with John (née Reginald Dwight) as a startling piano prodigy kid who enters the Academy of Music but wants to rock rather than playing “dead people’s music.” We learn how Reggie changed his name and ultimately played his first U.S. concert at the Troubadour in 1970 — with Neil Diamond and half of the Beach Boys in the audience.
“[Director Dexter] Fletcher, who stepped in to finish the mega-musical blockbuster Bohemian Rhapsody, does not skimp on the tunes. Featured in just the 10 or so minutes we saw here in Vegas were such iconic songs as “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” (in a scene set at a carnival), “Daniel,” “That’s Why They Call It The Blues,” “Sad Songs (Say So Much),” “Your Song,” “Bennie and the Jets,” “Crocodile Rock” and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me.”
Fletcher and lead-role actor Taron Egerton then took questions from the audience, with Egerton noting that he wanted to make John likable with “a raw celebration of a great man” and the director saying they wanted to make sure they provided “a truthful and honest portrayal. It was important to him and us.”
The rollout for the film stars in mid-May, hitting the States May 31. Deadline noted that if it is screened at Cannes, that would be where John filmed the video for “I’m Still Standing,” at the Carlton Hotel, many years ago.
h/t Deadline
