Presley said the film’s script came from a “shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective”.
With Priscilla set to be released in UK cinemas early next year, and having already been released in the US, it has now been revealed that Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie, expressed major issues with the film’s script before her death earlier this year.
Variety has revealed emails were sent between Presley and the film’s director Sofia Coppola four months before her death, in which Presley said the film came from a “shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective”.
The film tells the story of Elvis and Priscilla’s relationship, with the couple having met when he was 24 and she was 14.
The synopsis says it tells the story “through Priscilla’s eyes” to show “the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla’s long courtship and turbulent marriage”. Priscilla Presley is an executive producer on the film.
In the emails, Presley said that her father only came “across as a predator and manipulative” in the script, and said that, were the film to be produced from the script she had read, she would be “forced to be in a position where I will have to openly say how I feel about the film and go against you, my mother and this film publicly”.
Presley continued: “I am worried that my mother isn’t seeing the nuance here or realising the way in which Elvis will be perceived when this movie comes out. I feel protective over my mother who has spent her whole life elevating my father’s legacy.
“I am worried she doesn’t understand the intentions behind this film or the outcome it will have.”
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Coppola said in response: “I hope that when you see the final film you will feel differently, and understand I’m taking great care in honouring your mother, while also presenting your father with sensitivity and complexity.”
A source told Variety that Presley saw an early draft of the script, which was later “trimmed” by about 10 pages.
The film stars Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla, while Jacob Elordi plays Elvis. It has so far received strong reviews and is expected to be a major contender during the upcoming awards season.
Priscilla Presley has said of the release: “Sofia did an amazing job. She did her homework, we spoke a couple of times and I really put everything out for her that I could.”
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