Elton John has given screenwriter Lee Hall access to his diaries to help him with the writing of the upcoming Rocketman biopic.

Hall, said Elton is eager to make a true to life film:

"One day, he took me to his house and opened a safe and he had all his private diaries that nobody had seen from when he was in rehab and left me there to read all this stuff.

But he's never commented once on the script, he hasn't interfered at all."

The film, covering the singer's life up through his 1990 stint in rehab, will center on Elton's struggle with addiction to alcohol and drugs.

Lee Hall's previous credits include Billy Elliot. Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) will play Elton in the biopic.