Paramount May Be Pushing to Remove 'Rocketman' Gay Sex Scene

Get ready to be mad — we might losing the gay sex scene in the upcoming Elton John biopic Rocketman.

The steamy scene features Taron Egerton (who plays Elton in the film) naked in bed with Richard Madden (playing the role of manager/lover John Reid). Some butts are on display, but supposedly there’s not anything more than that shown.

However, the Daily Mail is claiming that’s too much for Paramount Pictures, and they’re insisting the film lose that 40 seconds so it can pull a PG-13 rating.

“Two guys have a naked cuddle to express their love for each other and that will be reduced to a fully dressed warm hello,” said the anonymous source. “The world knows Elton’s gay. It’s no secret.”

It’s unclear at this point how much LGBTQ content would remain in Rocketman if this scene were taken out, and how coded vs explicit it might be.

And that may be the point. Bohemian Rhapsodybarely acknowledged anything relating to Freddie Mercury’s sexuality, and managed to be a huge commercial and award-winning success, despite all the controversy surrounding it.

As the Daily Mail points out, Paramount may be hoping to replicate that success with an appeal to broader audiences. And as we all know, Hollywood studios still have little faith that queer content can appeal to broad audiences.

If the reports are true and Paramount is pushing for the scene to be cut, hopefully they’ll receive equal amounts of pushback from the creative team. Even Sir Elton John himself reportedly told the filmmakers to “tell it all. Go as R-rated as you need to.”

And, of course, Egerton has already given interviews expressing how much he loved shooting the sex scene. Why deny fans the opportunity to see the results of such um, hard work?