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Rocketman flies at box office - but falls short of Bohemian Rhapsody

Paramount/Alex Bailey Taron Egerton in Rocketman and Rami Malek in Bohemian RhapsodyParamount/Alex Bailey
Taron Egerton in Rocketman (left) and Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody

The Sir Elton John biopic Rocketman made £5.4m in its first five days at the UK box office - but fell short of the Queen film Bohemian Rhapsody.

Rocketman, starring Taron Egerton as Sir Elton, opened on Wednesday.

Despite its strong figures, it is second in the weekly box office chart behind Aladdin, which took £7.1m.

Bohemian Rhapsody - to which Rocketman has been compared - was a big hit, taking £9.5m in its first five days of release last October.

Getty Images David Furnish and Sir Elton JohnGetty Images
Sir Elton John was an executive producer on Rocketman, while husband David Furnish was a producer

Sir Elton's movie is listed in the UK as a 15 certificate, however, while Bohemian Rhapsody carried a 12A rating - opening it up to a wider family audience.

Rocketman was directed by Dexter Fletcher, who took over the reins of the Queen film following the dismissal of original director Bryan Singer.

Bohemian Rhapsody went on to earn more than $900m worldwide, and its star Rami Malek won the Oscar for best actor for playing Freddie Mercury.

Rocketman's UK and Ireland box office figures put it ahead of other recent musical films like Lady Gaga's A Star Is Born, which had opening weekend takings of £4.1m, and The Greatest Showman (£4.8m) - but behind Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again (£9.7m).

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