Paramount Pictures
Ahead of the Golden Globes, where Rocketman has received three nominations, Elton John is lending his considerable star power to his biopic’s Oscar campaign.
Elton and his songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, will appear at a special screening of Rocketman this Saturday on the Paramount Studios lot in Los Angeles. They’ll take part in a Q&A about the film alongside star Taron Egerton and director Dexter Fletcher.
According to The New York Times, Paramount is making a big Oscar push for the movie because it came out back in May, and most Oscar nominations go to films that are released in the last three months of year, and therefore are more fresh in the minds of voters. The studio wants to keep Rocketman top of mind, and remind voters that people started describing Egerton’s performance as Elton as “Oscar-worthy” months ago.
But despite Egerton’s Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe nods, most pundits predict that the actor will be overlooked in favor of Adam Driver, Joaquin Phoenix, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro and even Eddie Murphy or Adam Sandler.
For his part, Egerton tells The New York Times that he’s happy his name is even being mentioned in the Oscar conversation, but notes, “Particularly for gay people, it felt like a movie — from what they have told me — that celebrated their identity in a real way. That feels like the greatest accomplishment.”
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