Elton John has lashed out at critics who say straight actor Taron Egerton should not have played the gay singer in Rocketman.
"That’s all BS, I’m sorry," Elton tells The Sun. “If people don’t like it, review-wise, or it doesn’t make one dollar, it’s the movie I wanted to make and that’s all that counts. I can look back and say, ‘You know what, I love it. I can live with it.’”
The bio-pic is set to become the first major studio film to include gay male sex scenes, which may keep it out of China, where such content is disallowed. (Scenes with star Rami Malek kissing male characters had to be cut, along with scenes of drug use, before Bohemian Rhapsody could be shown in China.)
Rocketman opens in theaters on May 31st, but the UK gets it first on Friday.
BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz attended a screening and gave it three out of five stars. But, if you read his review, you can’t help but wonder if he gave it one star too many.
“The team behind Rocketman have pulled off the most astonishing feat. Against all the odds, they have managed to produce a two-hour greatest hits musical that turns one of the most flamboyant, gifted and charismatic performing artists of the modern era into a bit of a bore.
“A lot of words have been written and spoken about Sir Elton John over his 50 years in showbiz, but 'dull' is not usually among them...
"Taron Egerton succeeds in bringing out the singer's down-to-earth humor, but fails to bare his soul…
"[It was] stifled by the addiction saga running though it like Japanese knotweed...
"There's plenty to enjoy. But it does miss."