Elton John Biopic 'Rocketman' in the Works

David Furnish and Elton John's Rocket Pictures is set to tackle a new project: a movie based on John's illustrious career and how he got to where he is today.

Lee Hall, the playwright who penned the 2000 film Billy Elliot - which was adapted into a musical for the West End with music by John and lyrics from Hall and later transferred to Broadway, winning the 2009 Tony Award for Best Musical - will write the screenplay.

"Rocketman will be a radically different kind of biopic," Rocket Pictures' Steve Hamilton Shaw told Deadline.com. "It will be as unique as Elton's life, told in a non-linear and hyper-visual manner that will transport people through the many intense experiences, some wonderful, some not, that helped define Elton as an artist, musician and man."

In his four-decade career John has sold more than 250 million records, making him one of the most successful artists of all time. His single "Candle in the Wind 1997" has sold over 33 million copies worldwide, and is the best selling single in Billboard history. He has more than 50 Top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 US albums, 56 Top 40 singles, 16 Top 10, four No. 2 hits, and nine No. 1 hits. He has won six Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him Number 49 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.

While the film is still in its Early Stages of development, it's said to include some of Elton John's hit songs and will cover his journey from childhood to his enormous success in the music industry and beyond. 

"It will be more of a fantasy, Moulin Rouge type of stuff," John told BBC2 earlier this year. "Obviously, it's not going to be your normal, run-of-the-mill film. My life's been so surreal, from buying a football club to God knows what."