This sure seems like Oscar 2023 bait. How can it not be? The trailer for Baz Lhurmann’s “Elvis” has been released and the excess is pure Lhurmann.
Of course, we all knew that “Bohemian Rhapsody” would just kick-start a whirlwind of Hollywood rock biopics. Newcomer Austin Butler plays Elvis Presley. Tom Hanks stars as his manager Colonel Tom Parker. The film has a script by “Fifty Shades of Grey” scribe Kelly Marcel.
I just got this hunch the film will cover his entire life, including his death. There’s a shot in this teaser of the comeback special stage, circa 1968. “Fat Elvis,” aka the downfall — this phase of his career started around 1972, according to his biographer. If you’re going all the way to ‘70 then you are probably going all the way, to the daily peanut butter, bacon, banana, honey sandwiches, his death on the toilet, etc.
A test-screening for Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming Elvis biopic (06.03.22) occurred last October. A few reactions I had heard singled out Austin Butler’s “mesmerizing” and “triumphant” portrayal of “The King.”
A Cannes 2022 slot is already reserved for this one. Maybe even opening night.
Luhrmann hasn’t directed a feature-length film since 2013’s “The Great Gatsby.” Before that he had a time-capsule-worthy bomb titled “Australia”? Remember that one? Luhrmann’s claim to fame will always be 2001’s “Moulin Rouge” a frenetic and daring musical that took so many risks, but worked magnificently. Also, to Gen X-ers at least, 1996’s “Romeo & Juliet” is some kind of classic, and the first time Leonardo DiCaprio was noticed by the mainstream before being catapulted to fame the following year with “Titanic.”
The last we heard from Luhrmann is when he directed the two seasons from the 2016-2017 Netlfix series “The Get Down,” which was about the beginnings of disco.
Before practically going bankrupt, Row K had planned to release "Cliffhanger" in August 2026 on more than 3000 screens nationwide — hopefully with Vertical it hits as many theaters.