Evidently, the Baz Luhrmann-directed Elvis Presley biopic, Elvis, can't help but be a box office success. After grossing another $1.9 million overseas, bringing the film's worldwide total to $276.7 million. This past weekend, Elvis scored another $1.9 million from 64 markets overseas. This brings Elvis to an international box office total of $129.3 million, which has made up around 46% of the film’s total gross, and is the 11th highest-grossing film overseas of the year between The Bad Guys ($149 million) and Lightyear $107 million).
Since its release in June, Elvis has been a great success for Warner Bros. With its worldwide total, Elvis is currently also the 11th highest-grossing film of the year tucked between Uncharted ($401 million) and The Bad Guys ($245 million); all while having a production budget of just $85 million. This news comes shortly after Elivs’ VOD release but a little less than a week before the film’s HBO Max release date of September 2 and its 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD release of September 13.
Luhrmann has had a lengthy Hollywood career spanning back to the eighties when he was an actor and yet, Elvis, his latest directorial feature, is one of his biggest successes. Elvis ($146 million) recently passed Luhrmann’s 2013 adaptation of The Great Gatsby ($144 million) in domestic gross, making it the director’s highest-grossing film domestically; though it has a long way to go if it hopes to catch The Great Gatsby’s worldwide gross of $353M.
The number of musical biopics has seen an upswing in recent years, but the box office success of Elvis has paved a way for the film to stand out. The film is the second highest-grossing musical biopic of all-time ahead of 2015’s Straight Outta Compton ($201 million) and well behind the 2018 Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody ($903 million).
Penned by the team of Luhrmann and Jeremy Doner, Elvis tells the story of Presley with the twist that the story is told through the lens of Colonel Tom Parker. The film chronicles the relationship of Presley and Parker and is a roller coaster ride through the journey of Presley’s life and the iconic singer’s career. The film stars Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thompson, and Richard Roxburgh.
Elvis is still in theaters and is also available on VOD platforms. You can check out our conversation with Luhrmann below.