It’s been nine years since our screens have been graced with one of Baz Luhrmann’s movies, but now the famed filmmaker is about to release his latest, a biopic about Elvis Presley.
The film, which stars Austin Butler in the lead role and Tom Hanks as the singer’s calculating manager Colonel Tom Parker, follows Elvis’ rise and fall against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape in America, as well as exploring the rock ‘n’ roll legend’s legacy.
And judging by the biopic’s trailer, Luhrmann will be bringing his signature style to Elvis’ iconic tale, with plenty of glitz and glamour.
Read on for everything you need to know about the Elvis movie.
Elvis movie 2022 release date
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After multiple delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the hotly-anticipated Elvis Presley biopic is finally set to land in cinemas on 24th June 2022.
But first, the movie will make its world premiere on 25th May at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
The festival broke the news back in April, alongside a never-before-seen image from production showing Butler alongside Hanks.
Elvis : le King au 75e Festival de #Cannes2022 !
— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) April 5, 2022
Nouvelle avant-première mondiale avec @ElvisMovie du réalisateur australien @bazluhrmann qui sera présent au Festival en compagnie de @TomHanks, @AustinButler et Olivia DeJonge. #ElvisMovie @wbpictures
► https://t.co/6fuSV89nPM pic.twitter.com/jkAvHqbaf1
Elvis was originally announced back in 2019, with production kicking off in early 2020.
However, the filming and release dates have been pushed back multiple time due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Production first came to a halt after Hanks contracted the virus in March 2020, with Luhrmann telling Deadline at the time that they were “four days out from shooting”.
“I had built the Vegas showroom, the International which became the Hilton, and you know that famous scene where Elvis is playing that showroom?” he said.
“We were rehearsing camera positioning, everything, and I’d done all the tests, Austin, Tom, and the whole cast was on fire. We were that close.”
Who’s in the cast of the new Elvis movie?
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The following cast members have been confirmed for the new Elvis movie:
- Austin Butler as Evlis Presley
- Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker
- Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla Presley
- Chaydon Jay as as preteen Elvis Presley
- Dacre Montgomery asSteve Binder
- Helen Thomson as asGladys Presley
- Richard Roxburgh as Vernon Presley
- Yola as Sister Rosetta Tharpe
- Alton Mason as Little Richard
- Kelvin Harrison Jr. as B.B. King
- Luke Bracey as Jerry Schilling
It was announced that Austin Butler (The Carrie Diaries, Switched at Birth) had been cast in the titular role back in July 2019 after impressing director Baz Luhrmann following multiple screen tests.
“I knew I couldn’t make this film if the casting wasn’t absolutely right, and we searched thoroughly for an actor with the ability to evoke the singular natural movement and vocal qualities of this peerless star, but also the inner vulnerability of the artist,” Luhrmann told Variety in a statement at the time.
He continued: “Throughout the casting process, it was an honour for me to encounter such a vast array of talent.
“I had heard about Austin Butler from his stand-out role opposite Denzel Washington in The Iceman Cometh on Broadway, and through a journey of extensive screen testing and music and performance workshops, I knew unequivocally that I had found someone who could embody the spirit of one of the world’s most iconic musical figures.”
Several big names had previously been linked to the role, with former One Directioner Harry Styles, and Baby Driver actor Ansel Elgort both reportedly having undergone screen tests alongside Miles Teller and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
In October 2019, it was confirmed that Australian actress Olivia DeJonge, a Hollywood newcomer, had been cast in the role of Elvis’ wife Priscilla Presley.
“Olivia is capable of manifesting the complex depth and presence that has made Priscilla Presley an icon in her own right,” Luhrmann said in a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter) at the time.
“She’s an extremely talented young actor and the perfect counterpoint to Austin’s [Butler] Elvis.”
Elvis plot: What is the movie about?
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Elvis tracks three decades in the life and career of the rock ‘n’ roll legend, as well as exploring the famously tumultuous relationship between Presley and Parker.
However, it looks like the movie will transcend the King himself, with Luhrmann previously explaining that Presley’s story would be “a canvas on which to explore America” in the 1950s, ‘60s and ’70s.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press at a launch event for the trailer back in February 2022, Luhrmann explained: “Without in any way invoking that I’m up there with a Shakespeare or someone like that, the great storytellers like Shakespeare didn’t really do biographies. I mean, Shakespeare never really did the biography of King Richard.
“What they did was they took a life, and they used that life as a canvas to explore a larger idea. So I mean, a great biopic is terrific, but something like Amadeus, for example – it’s not really about Mozart, it’s about jealousy.”
He continued: “Now, as a young guy, I was an Elvis fan. But I don’t know that that fanhood was in any way the reason that all these years later I wanted to do Elvis. The truth is that in this modern era, the life of Elvis Presley could not be a better canvas on which to explore America in the ’50s, the ’60s, and the ’70s.
“I mean, it’s a mythical life that he lived, three great lives put into a short period of time. And what’s extraordinary about it, is that that life is culturally at the centre of the ’50s, and socially the ’60s, and actually the ’70s – and it’s a great canvas on which to explore America. So that’s what drew me in.”
Elvis movie trailer
Warner Bros released a trailer for the biopic back in February 2022, giving fans a first look at Austin Butler as the iconic singer and Tom Hanks as his long-term manager.
“There are some who make me out to be the villain of this here story,” Parker says in the opening of the trailer, before we see various key moments from throughout Elvis’ career – including his first big performance and his reaction to the assassination of Martin Luther King.
What’s more, the trailer’s soundtrack includes a number of Presley’s most famous songs, including renditions of his iconic tracks Heartbreak Hotel and Unchained Melody.
Suitably, the final line we hear as the trailer comes to a close is: “Elvis has left the building.” You can check out the trailer in full below.
Elvis is released in UK cinemas on Friday 24th June 2022. Visit our Movies hub for the latest news and features, or find something to watch tonight with our TV Guide.
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