By Patrick Cremona

Published: Friday, 24 June 2022 at 12:00 am

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Were most directors to take a stab at directing a film about the life and career of Elvis Presley, you’d imagine they’d stick to a soundtrack consisting mainly of the King’s greatest hits – perhaps complemented by a few other contemporary tracks from the ’50s and ’60s.

But Baz Luhrmann is not like most directors, and the Australian’s fascination with mixing the classic and the modern – previously displayed in films such as Moulin Rouge! and The Great Gatsby – is once again on show in his epic biopic.

The film does include several of Elvis’ most familiar songs, of course, but alongside them are a handful of remixed versions, covers, and original tracks by modern artists – with Doja Cat, Eminem, and Måneskin among those to appear on the soundtrack.

“I tried to be very balanced,” Luhrmann explained to RadioTimes.com during an exclusive interview. “I mean all the young Elvis is sung by Austin [Butler]. And I have classics, but it’s done for a purpose.

“I mean, the example I quite often use is, if you look at Hound Dog…Hound Dog in its time would have been read for the street languages. So when Doja [Cat] sings it, well she just translated that. So I’m just trying to make sure younger audiences get what it felt like as well as what it was.

“Eminem does that track at the end because it ends with Elvis’s influence on music,” he added. “You ask Eminem about his point of view about Elvis – he grew up in the black community [as well].

“And Måneskin doing If I Can Dream as well, it’s just all of these artists in one way or another understand that Elvis didn’t invent rock and roll, but he was the first teenage kind of idol.

“He was the first one that was suddenly famous globally overnight, there were no 19-year-olds, there were no teenagers as a commercial force. So they all understand, Elvis has an effect on them. For most young people, he’s just kind of a Halloween costume.”

You can check out the soundtrack in full below.

Elvis soundtrack

Performed by Elvis Presley unless otherwise stated.

Suspicious Minds (Vocal Intro)

Also Sprach Zarathustra / An American Trilogy 

Vegas performed by Doja Cat