Richard Madden is set to play Sir Elton John's former manager in 'Rocketman'.

Richard Madden

Richard Madden

The 'Game of Thrones' star is in talks to take on the role of John Reid in the hotly-anticipated movie, which will see Taron Egerton play the legendary singer, according to Variety.

Reid was the 'Candle in the Wind' hitmaker's manager for 28 years from 1970 to 1998 and his boyfriend for five years.

But the singer fired Reid from his team after a leaked letter from his accountants detailed the former Queen manager's spending.

John began legal action against Reid in 2000, and the 68-year-old music manager settled out of court, paying the 'Tiny Dancer' hitmaker £3.4 million.

Jamie Bell is to play Bernie Taupin in 'Rocketman' - named after John's 1972 hit - and Dexter Fletcher will direct the project from a script by Lee Hall.

John and his husband David Furnish will produce the motion picture alongside Matthew Vaughn.

Egerton recently revealed the film is a "fantasy musical", rather than a biopic.

He said: "We are making a movie called 'Rocketman' about Elton John's formative years. Everyone thinks it's a biopic. It isn't.

"It's a fantasy musical so it's actually his songs used to express important beats in his life at emotional moments. He's not the only character that sings. It's going to be fun."

And Egerton will be constantly singing on set.

He said: "I'm going to do it all. I'm going to do it on set as well. We're going to use a variety of techniques but I will always be singing on set. No miming. I'm just not interested in doing it that way."