This June, the Elvis Presley biopic will finally hit cinemas as the first big-screen adaptation of the life and career of the King of Rock and Roll. The Elvis movie’s first trailer came out in February, showing off director Baz Luhrmann’s loud and stylistic visuals. And now Priscilla Presley has said she’ll be given a private screening of the film she’s very nervous about with the director himself.
This June, the Elvis Presley biopic will finally hit cinemas as the first big-screen adaptation of the life and career of the King of Rock and Roll. The Elvis movie’s first trailer came out in February, showing off director Baz Luhrmann’s loud and stylistic visuals. And now Priscilla Presley has said she’ll be given a private screening of the film she’s very nervous about with the director himself.
Speaking with The Project, while promoting the Elvis Presley: Direct from Graceland exhibition in Australia, Priscilla said how she and Baz had had private conversations at her home on three occasions in the run-up to the film’s production.
The 76-year-old said: “I promised Baz I wouldn’t see it unless he was there because he asked me. He said, ‘Please don’t see it. I want you to see it with me.’ He’s very nervous. He has emailed me. In fact, he knows I’m here [in Australia where the movie was made], so he wants to know if there’s any opportunity to go back to Sydney so he can arrange our sitting.”
Priscilla was also asked about Austin Butler’s portrayal of Elvis and if the star will get close to the man she knew and loved.
The King’s ex-wife replied: “I don’t mean this to be an insult, but I don’t know anyone who could really fit in his shoes. I haven’t seen anyone at all who can portray Elvis. But I heard he did a great job.”
Speaking at Elvis Week at Graceland last year, Priscilla said candidly: “To be honest with you… I don’t know anything about what’s going on with that movie. Baz came to my home a couple of times. He said he’d send me the script once he was back in Australia, still working on it. I have not received it, which makes me a little nervous. Actually a lot nervous because Baz can be…y’know he kind of goes off-beat a bit. So I don’t know what he’s planning on doing. I just don’t know what direction he’s going to take it in. Y’know he has his own ideas. He has talked to people. So it all depends on who he’s talked to really.”
Billy’s wife Jo, who knew The King personally too, said they weren’t consulted on the movie at all.
She added: “It’s from another point of view. A lot of the people that are asked have already told so much stuff that it has to fit in with what they’ve already told or the real stuff they really don’t want to know. That’s what I feel.”
Elvis hits cinemas on June 24, 2022.
Published at Tue, 05 Apr 2022 10:56:00 +0000
Elvis movie: Priscilla’s verdict on Austin Butler – ‘I don’t mean this to be an insult’
