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John then flings himself into the pool and sinks to the bottom.
Its in the depths of the water where things get weird.
The hallucination crumbles when an assembly of synchronized swimmers rescue him.
Then, poof, he turns again, literally into a rocket and shoots into the sky.
Does that sound like a biopic to you?
Ive absolutely made the decision that this is a musical number that straddles reality and fantasy.
The transitions are the big nub of making something like that work.
Keeping the fluidity and balletic feel to that going.
The scene is neatly indicative of Fletchers narrative ambitions endorsed by executive producer Elton John himself.
But then I was like, Create something with the choreographer that happens in silhouette.
That meant he could get undressed and then be put into his stage costume.
We wouldnt quite see what was happening.
And then hes out onstage.
Translating certain parts of screenwriter Lee Halls script for Fletchers screen required no small amount of magical thinking.
On the page, the suicide attempthospitalizationDodger Stadium sequence had only the most bare-bones description.
That and hes pulled from the pool.
Its fairly scant, to be honest.
Its then about how I interpret that and realize it with the team.
Rocketmanis not a biopic, Fletcher insists.
Its a musical collection of memories that tries to unpack where Elton John came off the rails and why.
