By Jenna Zucker
TORONTO (Reuters) – A bespectacled Elton John rolled down the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival in a purple golf cart adorned with stars, displaying a brand of showmanship befitting the world premiere of the documentary “Elton John: Never Too Late.”
Amplified by archival footage and photographs, the film is an intimate look at the singer-songwriter’s life and career through the lens of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which culminated with a 2022 performance at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
The documentary’s co-directors – R.J. Cutler and David Furnish, a Toronto native and Elton’s husband – hope fans learn something new about a celebrated megastar who has sold millions of albums and packed arenas worldwide since the 1970s. Elton is one of a rarified group known as EGOT winners, having taken home an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award in his career.
“It’s exciting and terrifying,” Furnish told Reuters on Friday at the premiere when asked what it was like to do a documentary about your spouse. Furnish also served as producer of “Rocketman,” an Elton biopic released in 2019.
A revealing moment in “Never Too Late” that shocked Furnish was a conversation from 1976 when Elton shared that he hoped to start a family one day.
“In the early days of our relationship, he said he never wanted to have children,” Furnish said. “And then, of course, we have children, so that was like a really nice surprise.”
The British-born Sir Elton, who started life as Reginald Dwight, began his rise to stardom in 1967 when he answered an ad for Liberty Records and joined forces with lyricist Bernie Taupin.
The movie, a co-production of Disney+ and Rocket Pictures, has something for everyone, said Cutler, whose directorial credits include 2021’s “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” and “Belushi” in 2020.
“If you grew up with his music as I did, you’re going to recognize this era, this remarkable five-year period from 1970 to 1975, where Elton released 13 albums, seven of which went to number one on the charts,” Cutler said.
“If you’ve come to Elton’s music in recent years, you’re going to learn about that period in a way that you probably didn’t even imagine.”
The documentary will appear on Disney+ later this year.
Sir Elton, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1998 for his contribution to music and charity, recently announced that he was recovering from a severe eye infection. On Friday, he declined to do red carpet interviews, but his husband assured Reuters that he was on the road to recovery.
(Reporting by Jenna Zucker in Toronto; Editing by Frank McGurty and Diane Craft)
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