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recalls Wyck Godfrey, president of Paramounts motion picture group.
Internally, we looked at scenes, and what you would have to lose to make it PG-13.
There was certainly a wobble, he says.
The wobble makes sense.
Superficially, at least, the two movies RocketmanandBohemian Rhapsody share more than a few glaring similarities.
Both films are narratively propelled by the chart-topping songs that made the men into household names.
Namely becauseRocketman, Fletcher makes clear, isnt a biopic.
A biopic by its very nature is very hard to pull off, Fletcher explains.
Because youre hemmed in by facts.
Youre hemmed in by chronology and the details that a lot of people know.
Thats why Im adamantly like, [Rocketmanis] not a biography, he adds.
Its a musical, and its [Johns] memories, and that means Im freed from that burden.
Throughout the film, characters frequently interrupt their dialogue to break into elaborate song-and-dance numbers.
But I just havent led a PG-13 rated life.
But even with those core components in place,Rocketmanlanguished at Focus Features until a fateful film cameo.
And he said, Theyre having problems with the R-rated piece of it.
[John] didnt want to do theMamma Miaversion of his life, lets put it that way.
The rating was a real problem for a lot of people, Vaughn adds.
Vaughn is primarily known as a writer-director behind such hit movies asX-Men: First ClassandKingsman: The Secret Service.
(Fletcher actually appears as an actor inLayer Cake.
(Decades worth of sexual-misconduct allegations caught up to Singer shortly after.)
(It helped that Malek personally entreated Fletcher, reportedlytelling him, We fucking need you, man.
Fletcher ended up taking the gig, though his directing contributions are uncredited.
Thats when production hit its PG-13 wobble.
You work in a big company and everyones like, Look what thats doing.
We should chase that.
By the way, it was a wobble that took place with the filmmakers and producers as well.
Its always better to lead than to follow.
In contrast to the criticism lobbied againstBohemian Rhapsody,Rocketmaneventually opened to positive reviews.
Gurus of gold are already speculating on whether Egertons performance as John is worthy of Oscar consideration.
Wobble or not, the filmmakers are collectively proud of their R-rated achievement.
Im very, very happy that weve got such amazing reactions, Vaughn concludes.
And more importantly, we have Elton John loving the film.
What more do we need?
Update: an earlier version of this story incorrectly statedRocketmanbegan development at Disney in 2001.
It began in 2007.
