S2 Ep26: Pop Screen: Rocketman (with Ben Pilmer)

The long-awaited biopic of Sir Elton Hercules John - wait, Hercules? Yes, Hercules - was always going to be a flamboyant affair, but no-one suspected it would be a full-scale, dancing-in-the-streets musical. Yet that is exactly what director Dexter Fletcher and screenwriter Lee Hall delivered in 2019's Rocketman. This week, the Ben, the Ben, the Ben is back to help Graham make sense of the extraordinary results.

Along the way, we discuss the many names attached to the lead role before Taron Egerton came along, the film's fought-for R rating - and its somewhat shorter Russian cut - and the best bits from Elton's riotous autobiography. We also talk about Fletcher's salvage job on a certain other 1970s rock biopic, and wonder relatedly if Bryan Singer has ever actually been on a film set.

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