In an age where legends in the music industry such as Freddie Mercury, Elton John, Eazy-E, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Johnny Cash, have all had the stories of their iconic careers told on screen, it was only a matter of time before the King of Rock 'n' Roll himself Elvis Presley was given his own proper big-screen biopic. While industry veteran John Carpenter did a made-for-television biopic starring Kurt Russell as the icon back in 1979, a tried and true mainstream biopic was inevitable. Who better to take on Presley's story than Baz Luhrmann, the hyper-stylized filmmaker behind Moulin Rouge!, Romeo + Juliet, and The Great Gatsby. It has been nine years since Luhrmann's last big-screen outing with his take on the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic and while he has done some work since, including creating the short-lived 70s-set Netflix series The Get Down, that was still all the way back in 2017.
Luhrmann's films may be polarizing to some thanks to his unique way of making movies, but much like the titular man behind his 2022 big-budget biopic Elvis, this is a film that will certainly have its vocal fans as well as detractors. Luhrmann has been trying to get the film off the ground for some time now. It was initially announced back in 2014, with Venom and Fifty Shades Of Grey screenwriter Kelly Marcel penning the script. Word went quiet on the project for the next five years until news broke that the film was officially on with America's darling Tom Hanks in talks to play the role of Presley's ruthless manager Colonel Tom Parker and Luhrmann undergoing a lengthy search to find the right young actor to fill the mighty shoes of Presley.
The film has gone through a variety of setbacks since production commenced back in early 2020, thanks of course to the then-emerging COVID-19 pandemic with Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson being two of the very first celebrities to announce that they were tested positive. Now after countless hurdles, the film is finally set to hit theaters this summer, and we have everything you need to know before checking out the high-profile biopic.
Editor's Note: This piece was updated on May 25 to add the latest trailer.
Watch the Official Trailer for Elvis
Warner Brothers posted the first official trailer for Elvis on February 17, 2022. The trailer is set to a variety of hits and covers by Presley, sung by star Austin Butler, including "Suspicious Minds," "Jailhouse Rock," "C'mon Everybody," "That's Alright (Mama)," and concluding with "Unchained Melody." The latter is one of the last songs Presley ever performed on stage prior to his death, which adds an extra emotional anchor to the 3-minute trailer.
Warner Bros released the second trailer for Elvis on May 23, previewing more footage of the ambitious biopic as well as featuring other covers performed by Butler including "Trouble," "Money Honey," and an even better grasp at Butler's cover of "Suspicious Minds." The trailer also features the song "Vegas" which Bazz Luhrmann enlisted Doja Cat to write and perform for the film.
When Is Elvis's Release Date?
Much like many other movies coming out this year, Elvis has found its release date shift multiple times because of the ongoing Pandemic. It was initially slated to release last year with an awards-friendly date of October 1, 2021, but Warner Bros later pushed it back a little over a month to November 5, 2021. After the controversial announcement that Warner Bros. would simultaneously release all of its 2021 films in theaters and on HBO Max, the film was pushed back half a year to June 3, 2022. The film was eventually pushed back one last time to June 24, 2022, where it'll be opening against Scott Derrickson's horror movie The Black Phone starring Ethan Hawke. In this release slot, Elvis would be opening two weeks after Jurassic World: Dominion, which is likely to be the biggest film of the Summer, as well as a week after Disney and Pixar's epic Toy Story spin-off Lightyear, which is also likely to do big business.
Who Are in the Cast of Elvis?
Former Disney Channel and Nickelodeon star Austin Butler is taking on the role of Elvis Presley. Luhrmann and his team undertook a lengthy casting search to find the right young actor to step into the role of the King of Rock 'n' Roll before deciding on Butler. Other actors who were initially up for the role included Ansel Elgort, Harry Styles, Miles Teller, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Despite being the lesser of the known names amongst his competitors, Butler's audition won over the hearts of Luhrmann and co. Early in his career, Butler scored background and supporting roles in various Nickelodeon and Disney Channel series including iCarly, Zoey 101, Hannah Montana, Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Jonas, and Wizards Of Waverly Place. Butler then transferred over to shows for a (slightly) older audience with roles on series such as Switched At Birth, The Carrie Diaries, Arrow, and The Shannara Chronicles. Butler soon got a big boost in his career nabbing a supporting role in indie auteur Jim Jarmusch's zombie-comedy The Dead Don't Die and played the real-life Manson Family member Tex in Quentin Tarantino's Oscar-winning Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Butler will also soon be starring in Apple's big-budget World War II series Masters of the Air, from the team behind Band Of Brothers and The Pacific, where he'll be joined by other rising young stars including Barry Keoghan, Callum Turner, and Sex Education breakout star Ncuti Gatwa.
Easily the biggest name on the cast list is Tom Hanks, who will be playing Presley's domineering manager Colonel Tom Parker. Hanks, a two-time Academy Award winner, is typically prone to playing the 'good guy' throughout his filmography and his role in Elvis will be showing a different side to the thespian in an unconventional antagonistic role. From the trailers, it looks like Hanks will be unrecognizable in the role, donning a fatsuit, a healthy amount of makeup and prosthetics, and a strange accent.
Hanks has been keeping busy. Even during the pandemic, he headlined two original films at Apple with Greyhound and Finch, re-teamed with his Captain Phillips director Paul Greengrass to star in his first western in News Of The World, and he even made a surprise cameo in the critically acclaimed comedy sequel Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Hanks looks to have a busy year ahead of him as well. Besides Elvis, he'll also be reuniting with his Forrest Gump director Robert Zemeckis for Disney's live-action remake of Pinocchio where he'll be playing the role of Geppetto, opposite a cast that also includes Cynthia Erivo, Luke Evans, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Keegan Michael-Key, and The Haunting Of Bly Manor star Benjamin Evan Ainsworth in the title role of the wooden puppet who wants to be a real boy. Hanks will also be working with the celebrated filmmaker Wes Anderson for the first time in a new comedy titled Asteroid City, where he'll be starring opposite an all-star cast that also includes Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Wright, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Bryan Cranston, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, and Sophia Lillis among many others. Lastly, Hanks will be capping off the year playing the title role in A Man Called Otto from director Marc Foster, an American remake of the Swedish dramedy A Man Called Ove.
Other cast members joining Hanks and Butler include Kelvin Harrison Jr. as B.B. King, Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla Presley, Helen Thomson as Gladys Presley, Richard Roxburgh as Vernon Presley, recent Oscar-nominee Kodi Smit-McPhee as Jimmie Rogers, David Wenham as Hank Snow, Dacre Montgomery as Steve Binder, and Luke Bracey as Jerry Schilling, along with plenty of other names.
What Is Elvis About?
Well, it's about Elvis Presley of course! The trailer seems to hint that the film will chronicle Presley's childhood to his rise to fame all the way to his early death in 1977 at the age of 42. The film will also tell of Presley's tumultuous relationship with Colonel Tom Parker, his romance with the young Priscilla Presley, and his friendship with other musicians including B.B. King. In a recent interview with Memphis Commercial Appeal, Luhrmann stated that he's using the story of Presley "to paint a canvas of American life in the 50s, 60s, and 70s."
Will Elvis Be Coming To HBO Max?
After receiving backlash from many of their top talent as well as major theater chains, Warner Bros will be releasing their big-budget tent poles in theaters only and HBO Max subscribers will have to wait until 45 days after the film's premiere before they can watch it on the streaming service. Though with the Warner-Discovery deal closing quicker than expected and the head-brass at the studio changing, there is a slight chance that the new head of the studio will lengthen that theatrical exclusive window. It'll be interesting to see how the shorter window factors in with The Batman's box office as if it shows any signs that it diminished some of its potential sales, the studio might forgo the 45-day window plan. Only time will tell.
When and Where Was Elvis Filmed?
Filming for Elvis did not, in fact, take place in Presley's native land of Tennessee. Well, at least most of it didn't. Instead, filming predominately took place in Luhrmann's home country of Australia. Production initially kicked off in January 2020 but just two months in, filming was halted when Hanks and his wife Wilson tested positive for COVID-19. Filming picked back up in September 2020, which caused it to lose some of its talent including recent Oscar-nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal who was originally slated to play Gladys Presley. The shoot lasted until March 2021, an entire year after filming had initially been shut down.