by Ben Miller
Elvis and his manager Colonel Parker in 1958
Though the coronavirus is still raging in the US, the rest of the world is starting to get back to normal, and that means the restarting of international film productions. One of the most noteworthy of those productions, restarting in Australia, is Baz Luhrmann’s (as of yet untitled) Elvis Presley film, starring Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood’s Austin Butler as the King of Rock and the world’s most famous COVID patient, Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker.
The project itself is relatively unknown, but we do know Luhrmann, so don't expect the typical biopic treatment...
We also know a good deal of the cast including Rufus Sewell and Maggie Gyllenhaal who will portray the Presley parents, while Olivia DeJonge will step into the shoes of Priscilla Presley.
Elvis' parents will be played by Rufus Sewell and Maggie Gyllenhaal
Butler has a real chance to become a household name, just as the previous iteration of Elvis briefly brought Jonathan Rhys-Meyers into the limelight from the 2005 CBS miniseries. Regardless of his acting ability, Butler has the right look for Presley. This film will also provide a springboard for DeJonge, who is trying to transition from child stardom following a starring role in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit (2015).
Hanks is the big question mark for this film. Alongside his universal acceptance as America’s Dad, Hanks has been enjoying a critical resurgence in the last few years, culminating in his sixth Oscar nomination last year as Mister Rogers in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. He is already receiving Oscar pre-release hype this year for Paul Greengrass’ News of the World.
The character of Colonel Tom Parker is often seen as the villain of the Elvis story. Can Hanks pull off the manipulative and cunning nature without turning into Tom Hanks? Plus, Parker was a large man while Hanks has generally been slighter in frame. This could also go in interesting directions as Parker was a Dutch immigrant. Will Hanks go big and brash with a big accent? As great of an actor as Hanks can be, accents are not the thing he is best at.
Superstar Elvis (then 32) and Priscilla Presley (22) married in November of 1967, eight years after their relationship started
My biggest curiosity will be how Luhrmann approaches the story. Could we expect a Rocketman-style biopic, where the more theatrical aspects of a story are highlighted, or will the director surprise us by going more straightforward with it and paint, if obviously enthusiastically since he's still Baz Lurhmann, by the numbers. Better yet, maybe they focus on a single event in Elvis’ life, like appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show and the aftermath of the sudden fame? Whatever he chooses, we all know Luhrmann's film won’t be boring.
Despite the new restart of filming, the film only had to move its date one month. It is now (tentatively) scheduled to open November 5th, 2021, just in time for Oscar season. You can see it in the multiplexes (hopefully) alongside the third Tom Holland Spider-Man movie, which is scheduled for the same date.