This April 4, 2019, file photo shows Taron Egerton, who plays singer Elton John in the upcoming film "Rocketman," discussing the film during the Paramount Pictures presentation at CinemaCon 2019, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) at Caesars Palace, in Las Vegas. The biopic will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) --
The Elton John biopic "Rocketman" will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month.
"Rocketman" will screen May 16 at the French Riviera festival, two weeks before it's to be released in the United States. Paramount Pictures on Tuesday confirmed the premiere, which Variety first reported.
The film stars Taron Egerton as the British singer and pianist. It's directed by Dexter Fletcher, who stepped in to helm the Freddie Mercury biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" after Bryan Singer was fired. "Rocketman" is more of a musical-biopic hybrid. John is himself a producer on the movie.
The 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival runs May 14-25. Its full slate is to be announced Thursday. As previously announced, Jim Jarmusch's zombie comedy "The Dead Don't Die" will open the festival.
Suchir Balaji poses for a photo in Hawaii in 2018. Balaji was a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who died in November 2024. (Balaji Ramamurthy via AP)
Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.
Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.
"We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.
Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.
His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.
Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.
"Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More
