Elton John: Rocketman better than Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody ‘Mine is true’

Elton remains staunchly proud of his film, produced by his husband David Furnish and directed by Dexter Fletcher. Even many Queen fans have criticised the Queen and Freddie Mercury movie for rearranging timelines and manipulating certain moments in the band’s history. Some also accused the film of glossing over the more troubling parts of Freddie’s life. Elton, who knew Freddie well, added his strong opinion.

US industry bible Variety asked Elton what he really thought of the two films: “Ours tells the truth — even though it’s a fantasy… My life can’t be sugarcoated, and I didn’t want it to be.”

Queen stars Brian May and Roger Taylor had answered criticisms of their film by explaining their intention was to make a family-friendly film that would celebrate their bandmate and friend, capturing the spirit of his life rather than every little detail.

But Elton admitted he struggled to watch some painful moments in the film.

The movie does not shy away from some of the more distressing moments of the star’s life, played on screen by Taron Egerton.

Elton said: “This is how my life was, and I didn’t want to cover it and gloss it over. And it’s difficult to watch because I thought, ‘God, I don’t want to go back there. Thank god I came out of it’.

“Success was fantastic, and then I couldn’t cope with it. And you can’t leave out the bad.”

Elton added: “This is how bleak it was, I’d stay up, I’d smoke joints, I’d drink a bottle of Johnnie Walker and then I’d stay up for three days.”

However, he still had praise for Bohemian Rhapsody: “It was a film for everyone, and it worked brilliantly.

“It brought the great music of Freddie Mercury to a whole bunch of people who would have never heard of him. I’m thrilled for the guys [in Queen].”

Bohemian Rhapsody took $903.6million at the worldwide box office, while Rocketman grossed $195million.