Who can step into very large, very glittery boots of everyone’s favorite rocketman? Tom Hardy, apparently. The British actor, who most recently played Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, has been cast to play Elton John in Rocketman, an upcoming biopic about the star.

Michael Gracey will direct the film, reports Deadline, and the script was written by Lee Hall, who has also worked on Billy Elliot and War Horse. Peter Schlessel, the CEO of Focus Features, said of the casting pick, “We are confident that Tom will embody the physicality and spirit of Sir Elton.”

This role will be quite a change for Hardy, who has also starred in Inception, Lawless and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Apparently, Hardy wasn’t John’s first pick for the role. Back in 2012, John said that he wanted Justin Timberlake for the role. “He played me before in a David LaChappelle video of [‘This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore’] and was superb,” John told the Los Angeles Times. John has not commented on the casting of Hardy in the role. John also said that the film is “going to be a surreal look at my life, and not just a factual look at my life—more in the manner of a Moulin Rouge.”

“Everyone knows and loves Elton John’s music, but the true story of his life is so incredible that it can only be described as a fantasy,” said Gracey about the biopic earlier this year. “His journey from impossible dreamer to stardom and uncontrollable excess is something only a musical film can capture, and I’m so excited to be the one to tell his story.” The film will also feature plenty of John’s big hits, and John will be rerecording many of the songs to match them up with the film. Shooting is set to start in fall 2014.