Summer Movie Preview: Capturing the essence of Elton John

LAS VEGAS -- Sir Elton John gave actor Taron Egerton some unlikely advice for portraying him in "Rocketman": Don't do an impression. Sing the songs the way you want.

It was a freeing, if unusual, bit of direction for a project about himself that John had been trying to make for seven years. But it gets to the heart of what "Rocketman," out May 31, is trying to do: Evoke the essence of John's life, as told by John, from his childhood to middle age and all the success, tumult and darkness behind all those fantastical costumes, and not give audiences a Wikipedia entry. You won't hear John's voice at all -- Egerton performs the songs himself. It's an unconventional biopic for an unconventional rock star and John, 72, certainly wasn't going to get in the way of that.

The project itself came together in a roundabout way, after a few years of false starts. At one point, Tom Hardy was actually signed on to star. But it wasn't until producer Matthew Vaughn -- who is friends with John and his husband David Furnish and had convinced John to do a cameo in his "Kingsman" sequel -- proposed the idea of Egerton that things really started moving forward.

Director Dexter Fletcher said it was the, "idea of Taron playing Elton that ignited it for me." He'd worked with the actor before, on "Eddie the Eagle," and knew he had the vocal chops to do it and the daring to be able to "go there" for an R-rated musical.

In "Rocketman," there will be rock and roll, drugs, sex, rehab and an exploration of John's relationship with his then-manager John Reid, who is played by "Game of Thrones" alum Richard Madden. In other words, "Bohemian Rhapsody" this is not.

"It's where they didn't dare to go on 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' where they didn't want to go," said Fletcher, who finished the Oscar-winning Freddie Mercury biopic after director Bryan Singer exited. "It's part of Elton's life. He wears glasses. He plays the piano. He's gay...I saw it as an opportunity to look at that."