Elvis has not quite left the building yet. Not long after Baz Luhrmann released his epic biopic about the King of Rock N Roll, Elvis, a more low-key release that focuses more on Priscilla Presley’s story announces its arrival with a new trailer from indie studio darling A24. This film, Priscilla, comes from Sofia Coppola, director of Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette and The Bling Ring, and daughter of prolific cinema auteur Francis Ford Coppola. While Austin Butler broke out in his respective role, Jacob Elordi plays the man, the myth, the legend, Elvis Presley this time around, while Cailee Spaeny occupies the titular role of Elvis’ wife.
The official synopsis reads,
“When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a gentle best friend. Through Priscilla’s eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla’s long courtship and turbulent marriage, from a German army base to his dream-world estate at Graceland, in this deeply felt and ravishingly detailed portrait of love, fantasy, and fame.”
The movie is based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir, co-authored by Sandra Harmon, Elvis and Me: The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N’ Roll. Sofia Coppola writes and directs the project with Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, and Succession‘s Dagmara Dominczyk. Priscilla Presley herself is on board as an executive producer.
Although this movie comes off the heels of the higher profile biopic Elvis, Baz Luhrmann is in full support of this film, and he told The Hollywood Reporter that multiple projects on the same topic are a testament to how important this story is. Luhrmann explained, “Elvis and Priscilla are a kind of American royalty, that were… I wouldn’t say banished, but I think it just shows that… Elvis and Priscilla are back in the culture, not just popular culture, but, I think, in American industry. I did the story of Elvis to explore America in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. I think their lives are really woven into the fabric of the American story. And I’m really looking forward to what part of the story is told.”
Both of these movies would make a great companion listing on a theater marquee — Elvis and Priscilla.