Taron Egerton as Elton John in "Rocketman" from Paramount Pictures

Taron Egerton as Elton John in “Rocketman” from Paramount PicturesElton John’s upcoming biopic Rocketman has drawn many comparisons to the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody — they even have the same director.  Now, yet another comparison is being drawn: Like Bohemian Rhapsody, insiders predict Oscar glory for the film.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, a six-minute montage of the movie screened Thursday in Las Vegas at the movie theater industry trade show CinemaCon brought loud applause.  The montage showed Elton as a musical child prodigy, scenes of his early career, and his struggle to deal with fame and addiction.

“ROCKETMAN looks terrific. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY was compromised by the band’s involvement but Elton seems to have encouraged a warts-&-all portrayal of his remarkable life,” tweeted a journalist who saw the screening.

He added, “The costumes are GORGEOUS, shoo-in for Oscar nom. So many great songs.”

Another journalist tweeted, “This movie looks so, so good. There’s no way [star Taron] Egerton doesn’t end up with an Oscar nomination. I am all in for this movie.”

Other attendees described the movie as “a smash,” that got “perhaps the biggest cheers of CinemaCon yet.” Another predicted it would make “a lot of money,” while yet another raved, “@TaronEgerton is the real deal – he sounds freaking amazing as Elton John. Deeply into this.”

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Egerton told the crowd, “We wanted it to be a raw, human story. But we also wanted it to be fun. We want audiences to feel like they are getting a glimpse behind closed doors.” 

He also described Elton as being “remarkably hands off” the movie.

Rocketman hits theaters May 24.

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