{"id":17167,"date":"2022-06-20T09:04:35","date_gmt":"2022-06-20T07:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1664859"},"modified":"2022-06-20T09:47:10","modified_gmt":"2022-06-20T07:47:10","slug":"baz-luhrmann-reveals-4-hour-version-of-elvis-exists","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/baz-luhrmann-reveals-4-hour-version-of-elvis-exists\/","title":{"rendered":"Baz Luhrmann reveals \u201c4-hour version\u201d of Elvis exists"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Patrick Cremona\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 20 June 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

A few heads were turned when the two-and-a-half-hour runtime of Baz Luhrmann\u2019s Elvis<\/a> biopic was announced \u2013 but it seems that the film would have been even longer if the Australian director had his way.<\/p>\n

During an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com<\/a>, Luhrmann revealed that a four-hour version of the film exists, which includes several scenes that had to be cut from the version that will be released in cinemas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I have a four-hour version, actually,\u201d he said. \u201cI do. But you have to bring it down to 2 hours 30.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to explain exactly what parts of the King of Rock and Roll\u2019s story he was sorry to leave out of the theatrically-released cut.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have liked to lean into some of the other things more \u2013 there\u2019s so much more,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, there\u2019s lots of stuff that I shot like the relationship with the band, I had to pare [that] down \u2013 and it\u2019s so interesting how the Colonel [Tom Parker, played by Tom Hanks] gets rid of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe relationship with his first girlfriend, Dixie, you know. And later on how\u2026 once he\u2019s caught in a trap, and he\u2019s discombobulated and doesn\u2019t understand\u2026 someone who\u2019s got such a hole in his heart like Elvis constantly looking and searching for love and finding it on stage but nowhere else.\u201d<\/p>

Luhrmann also revealed that an iconic moment from Elvis\u2019 life that doesn\u2019t make it into the film \u2013 his famous meeting with President Richard Nixon \u2013 was originally included in the film before he had to make some tough decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, the addiction to barbiturates and all of that, like what happens is he starts doing wackadoo things \u2013 like going down to see Nixon. I had it in there for a while but there just comes a point where you can\u2019t have everything in, so I just tried to track the spirit of the character.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Warnes Bros<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

The film stars Austin Butler as Presley and charts the pop culture icon\u2019s rise from carnival singer to King of Rock and Roll to Las Vegas performer, through the lens of his long-time manager Colonel Tom Parker.<\/p>\n

And Luhrmann revealed how he took inspiration from Shakespeare when drafting the script \u2013 claiming the film isn\u2019t really a biopic in the usual sense of the word.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way Shakespeare takes historical figures and makes a bigger point,\u201d he explained, before adding why he decided to present the film from Parker\u2019s point of view.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew a bit about Parker,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut a few years ago, when there were a lot of them, you know, the idea of these guys that would be quite proud about telling\u2026 I guess you call them lies.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut really like, big, toxic positive lies \u2013 carnival selling. Well, you put that next to Elvis, who\u2019s this incredibly vulnerable kid who grows up in one of the few white houses in the Black community \u2013 like Eminem.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it just seems to speak to right now, the tension between the carnival selling, the hucksterism, the snake oil bit, and then the vulnerable and the pure and honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elvis is released in UK cinemas on Friday 24th June 2022. Visit our\u00a0Movies<\/a>\u00a0hub for the latest news and features, or find something to watch tonight with our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n

","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Patrick Cremona Published: Monday, 20 June 2022 at 12:00 am A few heads were turned when the two-and-a-half-hour runtime of Baz Luhrmann\u2019s Elvis biopic was announced \u2013 but it seems that the film would have been even longer if the Australian director had his way. During an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com, Luhrmann revealed that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":17168,"template":"","categories":[6],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/06\/baz-luhrmann-reveals-4-hour-version-of-elvis-exists.jpg",1920,1280,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/06\/baz-luhrmann-reveals-4-hour-version-of-elvis-exists-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/06\/baz-luhrmann-reveals-4-hour-version-of-elvis-exists-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/06\/baz-luhrmann-reveals-4-hour-version-of-elvis-exists-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/06\/baz-luhrmann-reveals-4-hour-version-of-elvis-exists-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/06\/baz-luhrmann-reveals-4-hour-version-of-elvis-exists-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/06\/baz-luhrmann-reveals-4-hour-version-of-elvis-exists.jpg",1920,1280,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Patrick Cremona Published: Monday, 20 June 2022 at 12:00 am A few heads were turned when the two-and-a-half-hour runtime of Baz Luhrmann\u2019s Elvis biopic was announced \u2013 but it seems that the film would have been even longer if the Australian director had his way. During an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com, Luhrmann revealed that…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/17167"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}