Having been born and raised in the city where the famous “Elvis has left the building” line originated, I’ve long been a fan of the “King of Rock and Roll.” When I heard about EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert landing on the 2026 movie schedule, I made sure to catch Baz Luhrmann’s mind-blowing concert film that serves as a companion piece to his incredible 2022 biopic, and I’m glad I did.

Watching this one-of-a-kind concert experience on an IMAX screen in a theater filled with people who wanted nothing more than to be where they were at that moment is an experience I won’t forget. Blown away by the stunning visuals, body-shaking sound, and dreamlike quality of the concert film, I dug around to see how it all came together. Now I can’t get over how the famed director made it all happen. You’ve got to hear this story…

It All Started When Baz Luhrmann Heard About Lost Recordings In A Salt Mine

All of this started when Baz Luhrmann was finishing the post-production work on Elvis, the 2022 Oscar-nominated movie often remembered for Austin Butler’s star-making performance. As he told Variety in early 2026, the director got a call from longtime collaborator Jonathan Redmond, who heard about a collection of lost reels featuring never-before-seen footage from the MGM Productions of Elvis: That’s the Way and Elvis on Tour.

It turns out, the lost recordings were in a big salt mine in Kansas, most of which were perfectly preserved. After securing enough money to obtain the collection, Luhrmann and his team were in for a big surprise.

All in all, Luhrmann found himself in possession of 59 hours of footage of the two concert films and a collection of old 8mm film from behind the scenes of the production. However, the work wasn’t done just yet.

Luhrmann And His Team Were Still Missing The Audio, And Went To Extreme Lengths To Find It

Though Baz Luhrmann and his team got hold of nearly 60 hours of footage that would later be turned into EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, they only had a fraction of the audio needed to make it happen. The team would ultimately fill in the gaps with Foley artists and new recordings, but they went to extreme lengths (and parking lots) to acquire the vast majority of the audio. When speaking with the New York Times ahead of the film’s debut, Luhrmann revealed how it all came together:

In the aforementioned Variety interview, Luhrmann said the Elvis bootleg industry is “gargantuan,” so his team had no trouble tracking down enough audio to put this dream project together. Still, though, the visionary filmmaker didn’t want to make a traditional concert film or documentary experience…

An Unearthed Interview With The King Himself Led To This Unique Approach

After obtaining all the film and audio and having it restored into 4K quality, Baz Luhrmann was given access to some old home movie footage from the Graceland Museum, which included an audio-only interview Presley gave during the making of Elvis on Tour. This audio, which consists of Presley talking about his life and career, unlocked the key to the project, as the director told the New York Times:

Having already seen EPiC in all its glory on a massive IMAX screen, this “dreamscape” description makes total sense, as the concert film/documentary feels more like a meditation on the man, the myth, the legend, than anything else.

Luhrmann Described EPiC As An ‘Imagined Concert,’ And That’s Honestly The Best Description

Over the years, some iconic concert films like The Band’s The Last Waltz were filmed in a single show, while others like The Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense were filmed over the course of multiple performances. EPiC falls into the latter camp, but it’s even more of an extreme than the transformative Talking Heads experience. Instead of one or two shows, Baz Luhrmann’s new concert film features performances from Elvis in Vegas, on tour, and various rehearsals that are spliced together to create something wholly unique.

When speaking with the New York Times, Luhrmann mentioned Peter Jackson’s Get Back docuseries about The Beatles, saying his new movie is the opposite, and is instead an “imagined concert,” adding:

The best example of this “imagined concert” description comes in the “Polk Salad Annie” portion of EPiC, where Luhrmann cuts back and forth between multiple performances of the same song to create this dizzying and mesmerizing sonic experience unlike anything I’ve seen before.

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert is now showing in theaters nationwide. If it’s playing near you, especially if the IMAX experience is an option, you’ve got to see this.

You may think you know Elvis Presley based on what you saw in Baz Luhrmann’s biopic of The King, the A24 biopic Priscilla or the Netflix rock documentary Return of the King. However, those who knew or worked with the “Jailhouse Rock” singer have a few fun facts about him that may or may not come as a surprise. For instance, The Partridge Family’s Danny Bonaduce revealed Presley had a dressing room with lavish faucets shaped like lady parts, and of course he did!

In a That’s Classic! podcast episode, Bonaduce spoke about the time he played a one-man band in The Trouble with Girls, known as Presley’s final movie. The former child star spoke highly of the pop culture icon’s generosity in giving each kid on set a Cadillac push car toy. However, Bonaduce also revealed that Elvis brought him and his mother to his dressing room and found something rather risqué in there. Here’s what he remembered seeing:

Of course Elvis had lady-part looking faucets! If anything, it seems like a real celebrity fad to have a peculiar bathroom feature. After all, Sabrina Carpenter is the proud owner of a heart-shaped toilet, and there's Meghan Trainor’s double toilets. So, it shouldn’t be a far stretch for the musician-turned-actor to have had a similarly quirky touch to his dressing room.

There’s no question that Elvis Presley had major sex appeal. When he moved his pelvis with each stage performance or in his movies, his charisma and daring personality kept fans’ attention.

The Mississippi native's notorious charm was also shown in a photo that surfaced from over 50 years ago that exposed the “Love Me Tender” singer touching tongues with a woman. Presley was even caught having an erection in one of his movies that was never edited out. So it’s no surprise that his private spaces, like his dressing room, would have him continuing to explore the female anatomy.

With Elvis Presley known for being unapologetically bold and a sex symbol, it’s not a total shocker that his dressing room handles would be shaped like a woman’s legs. Leave it to the “King of Rock and Roll” to have had his faucets look like they got the moves like he did.

Collective Soul has a new retrospective documentary out on Blu-ray and video on demand, and the film centers around the recording of their 2024 effort, Here to Eternity, which took place at Elvis Presley’s Palm Springs house in late 2022 and early 2023. As it happens, the band was there when the news broke that Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie, died in January 2023.

I had a chance to speak to Collective Soul’s bass player and co-founder, Will Turpin, about the event and how it impacted the band ahead of the documentary, titled Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story, hitting the 2025 movie schedule. Turpin told me Lisa Marie’s presence was very much felt that day..

‘It Never Rains In Palm Springs’

January 12th, 2023, was a tragic day for the Presley Family and their fans. Lisa Marie was only 54 when she died from a bowel obstruction, a side effect of bariatric surgery, leaving behind four children, including her daughter Riley Keough. Many Elvis fans had followed Lisa Marie’s entire life, from her birth to Elvis and Pricilla in 1968, through the end, and her death came as a real shock to everyone.

At Elvis’ Palm Springs house, where Collective Soul was laying down the tracks of their new album, they had set up the control room for the recording in Lisa Marie’s childhood bedroom. On the fateful day, Turpin explained, it rained, which is rare in the high desert of California. He said of the day,

A gloomy day in Palm Springs was like an omen for the band. Not a bad omen necessarily, but a sign to the musicians that Lisa Marie’s presence was felt. Turpin said of the surprise storm,

Fortunately for the band and those working with them to make the record, what could have been a disaster resulted in a happy and almost heartfelt ending. If it was Lisa Marie's spirit hovering about, she wasn't upset about her childhood bedroom being used as a studio.

Water And Recording Equipment Is A Bad Combo, But Again, Lisa Marie Was There With Them

When you hear something about a leak in a control room, one that had, according to Turpin, never appeared in the bedroom before, would be a recipe for disaster, as water and electrical equipment obviously don’t mix. However, Lisa Marie’s presence was again felt when the expensive equipment was spared. As Turpin explained,

Lisa Marie Presley was not only the daughter of a musician, but she was also married to a couple, Michael Jackson and producer Michael Lockwood. She also recorded three albums of her own, so she would never want to ruin a great session!

Recording In Elvis’ House Sounds Like Quite An Amazing Experience

According to the documentary, this was the first time a band had recorded in Elvis Presley’s desert house, other than The King himself. The house has been preserved as closely to how it was when the current owner bought it. Turpin was amazed by all the little things that were still there from when Elvis last hung out there, almost 50 years ago. Not only was some of the plush bright red carpet still there, and other things that reminded him of Graceland in Memphis, but one bit of security, over the jacuzzi in back, was still there. Turpin says,

Apparently, Presley had the cover put over the jacuzzi to avoid this in the future, and it was all still there, as Turpin told me,

This might not be the kind of story his wife, Priscilla, whose own story was recently told on screen in the excellent movie directed by Sofia Coppola, would want to hear, but she must be used to hearing stories about her late husband hanging out with cheerleaders, right?

Elvis Was Never A Direct Influence On Collective Soul, But He Is Still The King

When I asked about Elvis and his impact on Collective Soul, Turpin explained that being from Georgia, you can’t help by at least be indirectly influenced,

Of course, when you’re in the rock and roll business, Elvis is never that far from what you do. Even if The King isn’t a direct influence on many bands these days, or even in the ‘90s, you don’t have to go back too far to find some aspect of a band’s music that points to the first true rock star, as Turpin explains about his bandmates Ed and Dean Roland,

Elvis also dabbled in gospel music, so it makes sense that he would be one of the few rock stars the Roland brothers' preacher father would allow in the house. While Elvis himself might not have been a direct influence, the impact of spiritual music in general is obvious in Collective Soul's work.

Three Decades Later, It All Came Full Circle

In the Give Me a Word: The Collective Soul Story, the story of the Roland brothers and their partner, all these years, Will Turpin, comes full circle, and that music that so captivated them in their youth made its presence felt in very real ways on their latest album. You may not hear Elvis (or Lisa Marie) in their music, but the impact is clearly there.

Keep an eye out for Collective Soul, as they’ll be out on tour playing all their hits from the 1990s and songs from the new album, hopefully wth Lisa Marie Presley still looking down on them, proud of all they have accomplished.

Becoming Led Zeppelin, which you can watch with a Netflix subscription, is a fantastic documentary. While I do admit I wish it were a little more revealing about the truth behind the legendary band’s blues influences, it’s still one of the best rock documentaries I’ve seen in a long, long time. And I’ve watched a lot of rock docs.

Netflix has a solid selection of great documentaries about bands and artists from every genre, including these nine about some of the biggest rock stars of all time. It should be noted that I’m not including any concert films or any of the equally great documentaries on artists in other genres; this is all about rock n’ roll. In no particular order, here are a few documentaries you’ll probably love if you enjoyed Becoming Led Zeppelin.

Keith Richards: Under The Influence

In the world of rock and roll, there is no bigger star than Keith Richards. The Rolling Stones’ co-songwriter and guitar player has had one of the most incredible careers ever, and the stories he’s told over the years captivate rock fans like few others. I am speaking from experience here. I could listen to “Keef” tell stories all day. Keith Richards: Under the Influence is just that, it’s Richards telling his story, as only he can.

Return Of The King: The Fall And Rise Of Elvis Presley

There are countless documentaries, not to mention biopics about Elvis Presley. What makes Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley so great is that it is focused on one event in The King’s career, his 1968 comeback special. Not only does it feature interviews from many of the people directly involved in the show, like his wife, Priscilla Presley, but it has some amazing raw footage of the televised concert. Viewers really get to peek behind the curtain on one of the most famous events in rock history, and see Presley as he was at the time, nervous, scared, excited, and, of course, legendary.

Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story By Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese has a long history combining film and music, most famously with his direction of one of the best concert films of all time, The Last Waltz. Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story is a very different approach, not only for concert films, but for documentaries. The lines between fact and fiction are deliberately blurred, which is right in line with how Bob Dylan likes to present himself to the public. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you want to have some fun being tricked like a prankster would, it’s a fascinating film.

ReMastered: Devil At The Crossroads

It’s safe to say that without the Delta Blues and without Robert Johnson, there might not be rock n’ roll. Or, at least, it would sound very different. ReMastered: Devil At The Crossroads, from the ReMastered series of documentaries, tells the impossible-to-verify story of Johnson’s mysterious life. As legend has it, the guitar player, who died during the Depression, sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads, giving him his talent. The film plays up the myth, but also tells the real-life story of Johnson, at least what historians know about it, which isn’t much.

The Other One: The Long Strange Trip Of Bob Weir

The Grateful Dead have left a legacy as large as any band in American history, and while the late Jerry Garcia will always be the first name associated with them, Bob Weir has been the face of the band and its various incarnations for the three decades since Garcia’s death in 1995. The Other One: The Long Strange Trip of Bob Weir is a deep dive into Weir’s incredible 60 years on the road playing the music of The Dead. It includes extensive interviews with Weir and his family and friends, all helping to tell his story, and that of The Dead.

Trainwreck: Woodstock ‘99

The Trainwreck series on Netflix has recently included a powerful documentary about Travis Scott and the AstroWorld Tragedy, but a few years ago, it kicked off with a chilling look at the disaster that was Woodstock ‘99. Much has been written and said about that ill-fated mess of a festival, but this might be the best telling of the story. The 1999 edition of Woodstock sadly tarnished the legacy of the previous two versions of the festival, and this intense documentary on Netflix shows exactly why.

Norman’s Rare Guitars Documentary

Norman’s Rare Guitars started as a nondescript guitar shop in Reseda, CA, opened by a musician named Norman Harris, who saw the value in rare, old guitars. It has since moved to Tarzana and over the years has become the go-to spot for many of the most famous guitar players in the world whenever they are in LA. The Norman’s Rare Guitars Documentary on Netflix is not about a band or an artist, but in many ways, Harris and his guitar shop are as important to rock history as any artist.

ReMastered: The Lion's Share

ReMastered: The Lion's Share tells the story of the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” and the royalties from that song. It’s a fascinating look behind the scenes of the music industry and just how ugly things can get when it comes to the finances. It follows the history of that one song, and highlights the complicated system that often rewards people other than the ones who are actually responsible for music’s biggest hits. It’s not a look into the artistic side of rock, but that side is only half of the story. It helps explain the other 50%, the business side, and just how weird it is.

This isn't, of course, an exhaustive list of great music documentaries on Netflix, and the streamer seems to be pretty dedicated to adding new ones in every genre regularly. At the very least, these are some of my favorites to start with.

SPOILERS are ahead for Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, now streaming with a Max subscription and available to rent and buy on digital platforms. 

After 2022’s Elvis movie had Austin Butler transforming into the King of Rock and Roll for Baz Luhrmann’s acclaimed film and blockbuster, it felt like Priscilla came out of nowhere. Why was another actor playing Elvis Presley so soon? What else is there to tell? But Sofia Coppola’s movie isn’t another movie about the rise and fall of Elvis necessarily. Instead, it takes a close look at the life of his wife, Priscilla Presley, and it’s not only one of the best movies of 2023, starring Cailee Spaeny’s incredible breakthrough performance, but one of the most amazing biopics that should be on everyone’s must-see list. 

Following Max recently striking a deal with A24, Priscilla has become one of the latest films from the studio to be on the streaming platform. So if you’re just tuning into the movie and are curious about how the ending of Prscilla fits into the larger timeline of the Presleys' lives, let’s dive into what the emotional finale of the movie means and what happened next. 

The Ending Of Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla 

At the end of Priscilla, a 27-year-old Priscilla Presley tells Elvis Presley (who was 37 at the time) that she wants a divorce and leaves Graceland after living there for a decade and initially meeting the star when she was just 14. The final scene sees Priscilla driving off to the tune of Dolly Parton singing “I Will Always Love You” as she says goodbye to a chapter of her life that continues to define the celebrity. 

Priscilla is based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, and the film was executive produced by Priscilla Presley as well. Thus, the ending mirrors the ending of the memoir in terms of wrapping things up when her relationship with Elvis officially ended. As the movie (and Priscilla’s accounts) allege, she left the rockstar after her husband had multiple affairs with other women, took part in drug abuse and reportedly raped her in a Las Vegas hotel room just a year before their separation. 

The Significance Of ‘I Will Always Love You’ At The End Of Priscilla 

While Priscilla features Jacob Elordi’s Elvis Presley throughout the film, not a single song from the legend’s catalog is heard in the 2023 movie. This is because the Sofia Coppola movie did not receive rights to use his music and was made on the small budget of $20 million. In fact, the Elvis Presley Estate has allegedly slammed Priscilla for looking like a “college movie,” along with calling Coppola’s direction “horrible.” 

While big Elvis songs are not in Priscilla, Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” actually holds a major significance as the final song of the feature due to the story behind it. While Whitney Houston is famously the vocalist behind the hit song, Dolly Parton wrote it and recorded it initially in 1973 (the same year of the Presley’s divorce). When Elvis Presley showed interest in recording the song himself, Parton was excited until Colonel Tom Parker shared that it was standard for songwriters to sign over half the publishing rights to songs Elvis recorded. Parton decided to refuse the terms and recalls crying “all night” over the decision, but ultimately she was happy with it when she stuck to her guns and the residuals from Houston’s version helped her make enough money to “buy Graceland,” per Wide Open Country. 

Thus, “I Will Always Love You” not only is a perfect song tonally as Priscilla Presley drives away from the only man she’s only been with, but as a symbol of the resistance to Elvis both Priscilla and Dolly had to stand up to regarding the legendary rock star. 

Priscilla Presley Had An Affair Of Her Own As Well 

In Priscilla, it’s only hinted at, but when Priscilla Presley left Elvis Presley, she had been embroiled in her own affair outside of her marriage with karate instructor Mike Stone. Presley wrote about the affair and why she left the King in Elvis & Me, saying this: 

After Priscilla drove away from Graceland, she went to live with Mike Stone, whom she had met the year before at one of Elvis’ shows backstage, and he later started giving her karate lessons. Not long after their separation became official, Priscilla has alleged that Elvis thought about hiring a contract killer to murder Stone, but didn’t follow through. The couple finalized their divorce on October 9, 1973 and agreed on shared custody of their daughter Lisa Marie, who died a year ago at the age of 54 after suffering a cardiac episode.  

What Else Happened After Priscilla Left Elvis? 

After the events of Priscilla, Elvis' ex-wife would go on to live a successful life of her own, and she's still alive, set to turn 79 in May. Once she was no longer with Elvis Presley in Graceland, she started her new life by opening a clothing store with her friend that became successful. Following Presley’s death in 1977 at the age of 42, she became the president of Elvis Presley Enterprises and helped make Graceland the major tourist attraction it is today. 

Priscilla Presley also pursued acting in her own right, such as in Dallas and The Naked Gun movies, and was considered for iconic roles like as one of the Charlie’s Angels leads and as a Bond girl in A View To Kill. She never married again, but had another major relationship with Brazilian screenwriter Marco Garibaldi from 1984 to 2006. They have a 36-year-old son together named Navarone Garibaldi.

The Presley women continue to thrive in the spotlight too, considering Priscilla Presley’s granddaughter, Riley Keough, has become a Hollywood star as of late in projects including Amazon’s Daisy Jones and the Six. While Priscilla doesn’t cover all of the details of Priscilla Presley’s life, it certainly pulled back the curtain about Elvis Presley’s home life in a way that the Austin Butler movie doesn’t. 

Anyone who ever doubted or shrugged at Taylor Swift’s ascent to megastardom was schooled by 2023, which took the singer-songwriter’s fame into orbit thanks in part to The Eras Tour and its Golden Globe-nominated concert film. There’s much to look forward to by way of upcoming music and other projects, but Swift managed to sneak one last Huzzah into 2023 by breaking a longstanding charts record previously held by Elvis Presley. 

With quite a few holiday-infused purchases assumedly in play, the album 1989 (Taylor’s Version) returned to the top of the Billboard 200, marking its fifth nonconsecutive week at #1. Not only is that a big win for the album itself, but it gives Taylor Swift the most weeks atop the charts for any solo artist, according to Billboard. Across her 13 albums released so far, she’s spent a whopping 68 weeks as the queen of the mountain. 

Hitting that magical number of 68 put Swift ahead of all other solo artists in the history of Billboard’s rankings, breaking her tie with rock and roll legend Elvis Presley, who held the honor of 67 weeks at #1 across 10 different albums, from 1956-2002. (The collection ELV1S: 30 No. 1 Hits was released in September 2002, as bolstered by the remixed version of “A Little Less Conversation” by DJ JXL.)

This would have been a lot different had the chart swap happened in 2022, which featured the release of Baz Luhrmann's highly lauded biopic Elvis, with Austin Butler starring as the King himself. But now that we're all distanced from that film, it's only right for Swift to rise in the ranks, and she's nowhere near finished, so fans can expect her to continue capitalizing on that honor for years to come. 

Here’s a handy rundown of all the Taylor Swift albums that hit the top spot, and how long they each reigned for. 

• Fearless - 11 weeks (2008-2009)
• Speak Now - 6 weeks (2010-2011)
• Red - 7 weeks (2012-2013)
• 1989 - 11 weeks (2014-2015)
• Reputation - 4 weeks (2017-2018)
• Lover - 1 week (2019)
• Folklore - 8 weeks (2020-2021)
• Evermore - 4 weeks (2020-2021)
• Fearless (Taylor's Version) - 2 weeks (2021) 
• Red (Taylor's Version) - 1 week (2021)
• Midnights - 6 weeks (2022-2023)
• Speak Now (Taylor's Version) - 2 weeks (2023)
• 1989 (Taylor's Version) - 5 weeks (2023)

Will 1989 (Taylor's Version) continue to hold strong in the opening weeks of 2024, or were the holidays the main cause for its return to the top of the charts? 

Who Holds The All-Around Record For Most Weeks At #1?

Though Taylor Swift now holds the crown when it comes to solo artists, she still has a ways to go before becoming the all-around artist with the most Billboard-topping weeks. The pop star will need to take down one of music's most celebrated quartets, The Beatles, in order to secure that honor. 

It'll be a difficult challenge, though not an impossible one, with The Beatles having spent 132 weeks in the No. 1 spot, across 19 different albums released between 1964-2001. That's nearly twice as many weeks as what Swift currently boasts, but with the way the music industry has gone in the time that she's been releasing music, Swift could very well be one of the only musicians still making any money from album sales a decade from now. So staying at #1 presumably won't be quite as difficult as it was in previous years. 

Of course, Taylor Swift has been making headlines for plenty of moments that have nothing to do with album sales or music in general. She's been a fixture at Kansas City Chiefs games in support of her current sweetie Travis Kelce, despite her presence getting fans riled up in anger at times. And the recently released-from-prison Gypsy Rose Blanchard, whose tragic real-life situation was dramatized for Hulu's The Act, credited Swift with helping her cope during her years behind bars, with the hope that she could one day meet the musician in person to share that sentiment. 

Year after year, the legacy of Elvis Presley grows. Usually, it’s aided by a Hollywood project that shines a brighter light on the legendary singer’s life and career, which causes more reflection on what he accomplished, and the circumstances that influenced his meteoric rise and eventual demise. Baz Luhrmann started the recent dissection of Presley’s career with his Oscar-nominated 2022 film, which took a physical toll on Austin Butler, who played the man. And this season, Sofia Coppola is coming at the Elvis mythology from the perspective of Priscilla Presley in her critically acclaimed Priscilla, currently available in theaters and doing well at the box office. Critics have been raving specifically about Cailee Spaeny’s breakthrough performance in the title role, but there was one scene in particular I really wanted to hear her thoughts on. 

This isn’t really getting into spoilers, but the Priscilla scene that hit me the hardest – by design of the film – is the final shot of the movie. For the bulk of Sofia Coppola’s drama, we are seeing how Elvis’s love has limited Priscilla, and kept her tucked away at Graceland while he piloted through his career. The way he described it to this teenage girl is that he needed to go out and be “Elvis,” but when he got home, he wanted to be real… with her. But that prevented her from living the life she’d choose to live. 

In the final scene, Priscilla (Spaeny) comes to terms with the fact that she has to leave Elvis (Jacob Elordi), for her own health and sanity. And Coppola chooses to conclude the film with a heartbreaking rendition of Dolly Parton’s song “I Will Always Love You,” released in 1974. The lyrics line up so beautifully with how we are led to believe that Priscilla Presley felt – for even though she was leaving Elvis she always would be emotionally connected to him – that the song drop kicks the emotion of the sequence right into our guts. And what Spaeny told us, she had Parton’s song playing on set that day, and it helped more than she expected. The Priscilla star told CinemaBlend: 

The fact that Cailee Spaeny shot that unforgettable sequence on the second day of production is mind blowing. Her Priscilla has to sell years of experience felt opposite Jacob Elordi’s Elvis Presley, and the idea that she had to process that level of memory without having the grace of spending weeks or months in character makes the conclusion that much more remarkable. And now, imagining her watching this scene while sitting next to Priscilla Presley herself makes me nervous! 

There has been a lot of fan conversation around Priscilla, some of it having to do with the inevitable Elordi versus Butler interpretations of The King, and some of it having to do with the Presley estate’s reaction to Sofia Coppola’s movie. As with anything, we suggest you view the film for yourself and make up your mind. Then use our guide to upcoming A24 movies to see what else the studio has coming to theaters.

Less than a year after Austin Butler earned his first Oscar nomination for portraying The King in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis -- which also got eight total nominations and box office success -- another movie about Elvis was released on the 2023 movie calendar. Sofia Coppola adapted Priscilla Presley’s memoir with Priscilla, as it stars Jacob Elordi as the Love Me Tender singer. Since its release, fans have been pitting the actors against each other, but we finally found the perfect way to sum it all up. 

One tweet perfectly explains the whole thing. We’re about to break it down, but here’s the Twitter post that wraps up the differences between the Elvis performances well: 

In recent weeks, the tweet has gone viral for the hilarious differences the actors have when it comes to playing Elvis Presley on the big screen through news outlet headlines. In the case of Austin Butler’s Elvis, one headline highlighted the actor’s intensity around the role by sharing that he “didn’t see his family for three years” to shoot the movie in Australia alongside Tom Hanks. On the other end of the spectrum is Jacob Elordi, who recently admitted he only knew about The King via Disney’s Lilo & Stitch while on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

The tweet highlights a night-and-day approach between the two actors that fans have been having a blast talking about as Elordi has been promoting Priscilla. While Butler made a lot of headlines last year for his deep commitment to portraying the famous singer for Baz Luhrmann’s movie, Elordi has notably taken a more casual approach to the whole thing. 

As another Twitter user noted, the productions of Elvis and Priscilla had completely different approaches as well. Luhrmann’s movie was an $85 million project that initially began production in January 2020, and was caught in the middle of COVID-19’s beginnings when Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for the virus just ahead of lockdowns across the globe. The film then resumed production later that year before wrapping in early 2021.

And of course, who can forget that time during awards season when the public noticed Austin Butler’s own speaking voice had morphed into one that actually sounds like Elvis? The actor’s voice coach defended the whole thing, sharing that it was very possible that after he had worked on the voice change for three years, it might have actually become part of his actual voice, especially since the larynx apparently doesn’t stabilize in a person until their early 30s, and Butler is 31. 

After Austin Butler went viral for his lingering Elvis voice, he promised he would get rid of the accent whilst sharing he had probably “damaged” his vocal cords. Now, Priscilla on the other hand was filmed in a matter of a month late last year on a much smaller, reported $20 million production budget. Talk about major differences.

Priscilla has received rave reviews, but the star of the movie is Cailee Spaeny because of her breakthrough performance as Elvis’ wife. It’s playing in theaters now. 

Austin Butler stunned audiences as Elvis Presley in 2022’s biopic Elvis, which garnered eight Academy Award nominations, and now we're getting the story from a different perspective. Priscilla, which stars Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla Presley and Jacob Elordi as the King of Rock, gets its wide release on November 3. Critics have had a chance to screen the film that was written and directed by Sofia Coppola, and they are raving about the lead actress’ performance.

Priscilla was well-received at its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September, earning a seven-minute standing ovation. It is an adaptation of Priscilla Presley’s memoir Elvis and Me, and with A24 being the studio that’s distributing the film, expectations are pretty high for the story of a 14-year-old girl who fell in love with the much-older cultural icon. Will this be another great movie from A24? Let’s see what the critics have to say before you hit the theater this weekend.

Aisha Harris of NPR praises the leading actress and the way that Sofia Coppola’s script immerses its audience in the perspective of its subject as a young girl, noting: 

Mary Siroky of Consequence grades it an A-, calling the movie “an exercise in anxiety,” as the director proves to be an expert at communicating the devastation of being a young woman who feels trapped. The result is the audience constantly bracing for something terrible to happen, which the critic says does occur but also doesn’t. In Siroky’s words: 

Lauren Coates of AV Club lauds Cailee Spaeny’s breakout performance as Priscilla Presley, and says Jacob Elordi being super tall adds an effective physical aspect to his shining portrayal of Elvis. The critic gives the film a B+, writing: 

Kevin Nguyen of The Verge also has nothing but positive things to say about Cailee Spaeny in her “delicate, though not fragile” performance. But while the critic calls this Sofia Coppola’s strongest work in over a decade, Nguyen is left wanting. He explains: 

Several critics noted how truly opposite Sofia Coppola’s story is from Baz Luhrmann’s offering of Elvis last year, and the AP’s Jake Coyle agrees with the above assessment that the second half doesn't hit as hard as it should. Still, Coyle rates Priscilla 3 stars out of 4 and writes: 

The critics seem to be impressed overall, save for a few quibbles, and those positive reactions extend beyond just the handful above. Priscilla has garnered a Rotten Tomatoes score of 86% Fresh from just under 150 ratings as of this writing. If you are excited to get Priscilla Presley’s side of the story, you can do so now, with the film hitting the big screen on November 3, and be sure to check out our 2023 Movie Schedule and see what else is coming soon from A24. 

Elvis Presley is still one of the most famous people who ever lived. And despite the fact that he was the best-known celebrity in the world for a time, there are still many questions about his life that fans don’t completely understand. One of the biggest questions was the nature of his relationship with his wife Priscilla Presley, especially when they first met. But now the former wife of Elvis is responding head-on to those questions.

Elvis was 10 years older than Priscilla and the couple first met when he was deployed to Germany at 24. This meant that Priscilla was all of 14 years old. A new movie by Sofia Coppola, Priscilla, focuses entirely on the couple’s personal relationship. At the Venice Film Festival (via TMZ), Priscilla was asked whether the two were having sex at that point. She insists they were not, and that at that time their relationship was about her ability to listen to him. She explained…

It’s not hard to imagine that Elvis Presley had plenty to say. He was already a huge star, in a way few people had ever been, when he joined the army and had to spend a few years overseas. Priscilla says he talked about his hopes and fears and discussed his mother, who he was famously very close to. Priscilla was apparently the right person to confide in for the singer, as she says she never told anybody about the fact that she and Elvis were close.

Priscilla says even her own parents did not understand their relationship. It's not difficult to at least understand why there would be so many questions surrounding a relationship that not only started this way, but also evolved into something quite different. 

Eventually, the relationship did change, of course. Lisa Marie Presley, who passed away earlier this year, was born in 1968 when Priscilla was 23. She and Elvis had married two years prior. They would divorce in 1973, though Priscilla made clear here that she considers Elvis the love of her life, and says her decision to leave was due to the start’s lifestyle, not her personal feelings about the man.

We saw one perspective on the couple’s relationship in Baz Luhrmann’s flashy Elvis biopic a couple of years ago. Now, in Priscilla, we will see another version, one based on Priscilla’s own memoirs. The Elvis Presley estate has already slammed the film, so it certainly won't be without controversy.

The Elvis voice has become quite the point of conversation this awards season. Many, including Austin Butler, have weighed in on why and if he still talks like the titular rockstar he played. Now, another actor on the 2023 Oscar nominee list is giving her two cents on the matter. Angela Bassett has also played a music icon with a distinct voice, and she explained that while she understands why her fellow nominee hasn’t lost his accent, it’s possible, and you have to  “bid it farewell” at some point.  

Following her nomination for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Bassett was reflecting on her career with The New Yorker, and she spoke about the time she played Tina Turner. The journalist brought up Austin Butler and Elvis considering he’s also a nominee, and how both actors had to do a lot of work on their accents. The actress reflected on her time playing Turner, and how hard it was to lose her accent. She sympathized with Butler, and how he hasn’t lost his accent yet, saying:

I totally get why Bassett is able to relate so deeply to what Butler is going through, and also why she seemed fairly adamant that he needs to let it go at some point. She played Turner in the 1993 movie What’s Love Got to Do with It. This served as a pivotal moment in her career as she went on to win a Golden Globe for her performance and nab her first Oscar nod, sound familiar? It should, because Austin Butler has gone through essentially the same thing this year. 

Considering how distinct Elvis’ voice is, admittedly it’s a bit odd that Butler is still talking like The King. However, he also lived in the role for three years while making the movie. So, when you use an accent for so long, as he’s said, it naturally becomes a part of you. 

While Butler has been on the awards circuit and still seems to have the Elvis accent, it’s been confirmed he’s not using it on his upcoming project. His Dune: Part Two co-star Dave Bautista explained the Elvis voice is not used in the highly anticipated sequel on the 2023 movie schedule. So, he may be using it now, but it won't be present on the big screen the next time we see him acting.

So, it sounds like the accent might be on its way out, and as Bassett said, Butler seems to be bidding it farewell.

If you would like to see why Butler has the voice he has now and an Oscar nomination, you can stream Elvis with an HBO Max subscription. You can also check out Angela Bassett’s performance that earned her a historic Academy Award nod by watching Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with a Disney+ subscription.

Just a few days after Lisa Marie Presley attended the Golden Globes and watched Austin Butler take the stage to accept a golden trophy for portraying her father, the daughter of Elvis Presley died at the age of 54. Following the singer’s death, the Elvis actor reflected on his experience meeting Lisa Marie and the bond they formed prior to her unexpected death. 

Lisa Marie Presley hyped up Austin Butler’s performance in Elvis long before the its award season buzz. Prior to the movie’s release, Lisa Marie called it “nothing short of spectacular,” and she and her mother attended numerous events in support of the film since. Butler recently recalled: 

As Austin Butler shared, he had an unspeakable connection with Lisa Marie Presley immediately. He quickly had a “depth” with Elvis Presley's daughter, and she even showed the actor her father's bedroom and told him stories about her dad. Butler spoke to his memories of Lisa Marie while he was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Check out the interview below: 

During the late night appearance, Austin Butler also shared his reaction to Elvis’ eight 2023 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. The actor received his first Oscar nomination in the Best Actor category alongside Colin Farrell for The Banshees of Inisherin, Brendan Fraser for The Whale, Paul Mescal for Aftersun and Bill Nighy for Living. 

He’s called the recognition “bittersweet” following Lisa Marie’s death because it’s amazing to see the film soar to these heights, but he wishes he could have celebrated alongside Elvis Presley's daughter. Two days after the Golden Globes, she suffered a cardiac episode that sent her to the hospital, and she died later that day. Getting to see Butler win the Golden Globe was her last public appearance, though no one knew it at the time. 

Despite Lisa Marie Presley's sudden and tragic death, it’s incredible she had the chance to see her father being honored with Baz Luhrmann’s movie and share some of the experience with Austin Butler. The actor was so committed to portraying Elvis Presley accurately that he spent three years perfecting it, and may have permanently changed his voice with the likeness of The King. 

Ahead of Austin Butler’s appearance at the 95th Academy Awards on March 12, you can check out Elvis on streaming with an HBO Max subscription. 

Much of Hollywood is still reeling from the death of Lisa Marie Presley, who passed away at 54 after experiencing a cardiac episode. Presley has since been laid to rest at Graceland and honored with a funeral service attended by her closest friends and family. All the while, reports have dropped alleged details regarding the state of the singer/songwriter’s health shortly before her passing. Some have claimed that she was in decline, and a newer story has now accused Presley of taking opioids and losing at least 40 pounds just weeks before she died. 

It’s been well documented that Lisa Marie Presley battled addiction at certain points in her life. She revealed in the 2019 book The United States of Opioids: A Prescription for Liberating a Nation in Pain that she struggled with opioids. Presley was allegedly still dealing with those struggles shortly before she died, according to sources for TMZ. The news outlet also alleges that drug usage isn’t the only health issue she was struggling with at the time. 

Family insiders claim that the entertainer – who was the only child of Elvis Presley – had been losing a significant amount of weight as well. Per the report, Lisa Marie was aiming to drop pounds in order to look her best while promoting Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. It’s said that she ultimately lost 40 - 50 lbs. in six weeks by using weight loss medications. Sources claim that she also got plastic surgery two months before the Golden Globe Awards, which would mark her final public appearance. 

During awards season, the star had been making the press-wise with filmmaker Baz Luhrmann and his biopic’s leading man, Austin Butler, who just picked up an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of The King. Some seemed to take notice of her physical appearance when she showed up at the Globes. Having conducted what would be her final formal interview before she entered the Beverly Hills Hilton, Billy Bush opened up about speaking to her. The Extra host later said that he could tell that something was off and that the star was leaning heavily on talent manager Jerry Schilling for support.

Though many have speculated on Lisa Marie Presley’s health, most seem to be focused on the current state of her family. She was survived by her mother, Priscilla, and three kids: Riley Keough and 14-year-old twins Harper and Finley Lockwood. Keough paid tribute to her mother with a sweet social media post shortly after her death. And at her funeral, Keough’s husband, Ben Smith-Petersen, spoke on her behalf and confirmed that they’re the parents of a baby girl. Priscilla also read a candid message from one of her other grandchildren during the service. 

Harper and Finley Lockwood are now in the custody of their father, Michael Lockwood, who paid tribute to his ex-wife in a personal statement. The twins, along with their older sister are expected to take over the Graceland estate. However, Priscilla Presley is reportedly contesting a 2016 amendment to her daughter’s trust, which makes Riley Keough a co-trustee of the property.

Questions regarding the state of Graceland will likely persist as time goes on, and the same is likely true when it comes to assumptions about Lisa Marie Presley’s health. As of this writing, her cause of death has not been confirmed, as it’s been deferred pending toxicology results. New information could arrive within the next few months but, regardless of what happens, let’s just hope that it gives her family any further clarification – or even closure – they may need right now.

Following the tragic death of her mother Lisa Marie Presley, Riley Keough posted an emotional tribute to her. As Elvis Presley’s granddaughter mourns her mother, many celebrities posted their support for the actress, including her Daisy Jones and the Six co-star Sam Claflin as well as Nicole Richie, and Kim Kardashian. 

Keough uploaded a throwback photo to Instagram of her and her mom from when she was a child. The actress simply captioned her photo with a heart emoji. 

Below the post, many shared their love, condolences and support for Keough. Kim Kardashian showed her love by posting a simple emoji: 

Nicole Richie also kept it simple, making it clear how much she cares for Keough and her family. 

Keough’s Dasiy Jones and the Six co-stars were also in the comments supporting their Daisy Jones. Sam Claflin showed his support by writing: 

Josh Whitehouse, another co-star of Keough’s in the upcoming Daisy Jones and the Six as well as the star of the Netflix Christmas movie The Knight Before Christmas, commented: 

Jenna Dewan posted her condolences for Keough, writing:

Stylist Ilaria Urbinati posted:

While it’s terribly sad that Keough lost her mother, it’s nice and comforting to see the support from so many people in her life, the post had tons of comments within the first hours of it being uploaded. Including a message from Reservation Dogs star Devery Jacobs who posted:

Along with all of these comments, Taylor Lautner, Olivia Munn, Nicola Peltz Beckham, Mick Rock, Taylor Jenkins Reid and more posted heart emojis, sending their love toward Keough and her family. 

Along with Keough, many of Presley’s loved ones, friends and colleagues have spoken about losing her, including Nicolas Cage, Leah Remini and Rita Wilson. Cage, who was married to Presley for two years, said this was “devastating news,” and that his ex-wife “lit up every room.” He also mentioned that she is now “reunited with her son Benjamin.” 

Presley unexpectedly died on January 12 after she was hospitalized following a cardiac episode. This came only two days after she attended the Golden Globes with Baz Luhrmann and Austin Butler to represent the movie Elvis, the bio-pic about her father. Billy Bush, who had interviewed her on the red carpet that night, explained that told his crew he had noticed that “something’s off,” because she was talking slowly and struggling to get up the stairs to chat with him. 

Now, a little over a week after her death, Presley’s 14-year-old twins reportedly won’t go home, and there are questions about whose custody they will enter into. Along with this news, it was announced that Lisa Marie Presley will be laid to rest near her father’s grave in Graceland, and her daughters will take over the estate. 

We here at CinemaBlend send our condolences to Riley Keough and her family during this difficult time. 

After Austin Butler worked tirelessly to embody Elvis Presley for Baz Luhrmann’s lively biopic about the music icon, the actor has been on the award season circuit for his Oscar-worthy performance. As Butler has made numerous appearances, including his recent Golden Globes win, fans have shown concern that he sounds like Elvis in real life. While some people have accused the actor of putting on an Elvis front as of late, one of his vocal coaches thinks she knows why Butler can’t shake the famous accent. 

Griffith University Associate Professor Irene Bartlett was among the vocal specialists who worked with Austin Butler on Elvis regarding his accent. When speaking to ABC Gold Coast, Bartlett defended Butler against those roasting him for still talking like the “Burning Love” singer. She shared that the larynx does not stabilize in a person until their early 30s (Butler is 31), making it very much possible that the accent he worked on perfecting for three years may very much be part of his actual voice for some time. In her words: 

Butler went to great lengths for Elvis, including not seeing his family for years and really focusing on speaking like The King for three years, rarely going out of the accent while he was in the process of building a “connection" with Elvis for specifics such as his mannerisms and singing voice. Most recently, fans noticed he sounded like Elvis as he accepted the Best Actor in a Drama Motion Picture during the Golden Globes. Check it out: 

Just following the honor in the Golden Globes press room, Austin Butler was asked about his changing voice. Here’s what he had to say: 

Three years is a long time to be Elvis and with Bartlett’s perspective in mind, there’s more reason that Austin Butler’s voice has involuntarily changed since Elvis, rather than him purposefully taking on the accent as of late. It certainly sounds like it is a result of some serious determination from the actor to get the voice right for his character and as a result of that, he’s going neck-and-neck with Brendan Fraser, who recently won the Critics Choice award over him for the Oscars this year. 

To contrast Butler’s voice a decade ago, listen in: 

There is quite a difference between Butler's 2013 voice and his post-Elvis voice! You can check out Austin Butler as Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis with an HBO Max subscription, and look forward to the actor’s next role in the cast of Dune: Part Two, hitting theaters this fall.  

It’s been just under a week since the world bid farewell to entertainer and superstar offspring Lisa Marie Presley, who passed away on January 12 after being taken to the hospital for a suspected cardiac arrest. In the time since that unfortunate incident, many from the worlds of film, music, television and beyond have shared lots of praise for the singer. Now it’s being reported that she’ll soon be heading to her final resting place, and it’s confirmed she’ll be buried next to her late son Benjamin, and not far from her legendary father, Elvis Presley.

The Presley family compound, located in Memphis, is currently the site where preparations are taking place for Lisa Marie Presley to be interred, according to TMZ. The family is getting ready for a Celebration of Life ceremony set for Sunday, January 22, which will take place at the famed backyard fountain located at Graceland, and will be open to the public. 

Lisa Marie Presley’s burial spot, which is being excavated, will reportedly be just beside son Benjamin, who died of suicide in 2020. As well, she’ll be across the fountain from her iconic father and his own father Vernon Elvis Presley, who passed away 2 years after the King’s shocking 1977 death, as well as mother Gladys Love Smith, who died in 1958. 

It appears as if more preparations are in place for Sunday’s event, with a stage being constructed on Graceland’s front lawn, where fans have been leaving many bouquets of flowers since Lisa Marie Presley’s death. At this time, no one has specifically been announced to pay tribute outside of presumed family members, but it wouldn’t be completely out of place for a few other noteworthy names to stop by with kind words and a tip of the hat. 

As Elvis fans and Graceland enthusiasts are likely well aware, the lavish tourist-friendly spot has a camera feed that shares footage of the grounds 24/7 via the establishment’s website. It was noted that the camera feeds were shut off completely for a time, and it’s suspected that was to allow the event prep to happen away from the public’s eyes. 

A former Scientologist who was rumored to potentially be involved in Danny Masterson’s court case, Lisa Marie Presley was survived by her three daughters: 33-year-old actress Riley Keough (with ex-husband Danny Keough) and 14-year old twins Harper and Finley (with ex-husband Michael Lockwood). According to a legal trust, the trio will now be in charge of Graceland, which was initially passed down to the King’s only daughter, Lisa Marie Presley after he died. She was only 9 years old at the time, and gained full ownership at 25 after the trust dissolved. It’s unclear at this point if the daughters will make any changes to how Graceland operates.

Just days before her passing, Lisa Marie Presley witnessed Austin Butler winning out at this year’s Golden Globes for his portrayal in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, which she’d publicly supported surrounding its release. 

Method acting can lock an actor in the grip of its powers long after the cameras stop rolling. After Austin Butler went to great lengths to nail his Elvis performance, the actor seems to be having a hard time shaking that Presley twang anyone with an HBO Max subscription can currently enjoy. Which, in turn, has made some fans concerned about how the actor has recently claimed that he’ll probably be keeping that voice for years to come.

Throughout various fan reactions on Twitter, there’s a wave of folks who really want this era of Butler’s career to come to a satisfying end, and soon. Our first comment come from a social media user who proposes an extremely meta solution to this potentially disturbing trend:

It’s not all bad vibes when dealing with the issue of Austin Butler’s continued Elvis arc. In fact, some people are taking the time to do their own impressions of Butler acting like the King of Rock and Roll. Which leads to the next commenter’s contribution, focusing on what Elvis’s Dunkin’ Donuts order might sound like:

Watching that last video now has me wondering why there wasn’t at least a decent effort to contact Austin Butler to be in Ben Affleck’s new Dunkin’ ad for the Super Bowl. It’d be killer press for Butler, especially if his performance takes him to this year’s Oscars like so many say it will.

This matter seems to have come to a head in recent days thanks to Austin Butler’s Golden Globes win for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama. Once again, “the voice” was in full effect as he accepted his award, and for some it was just too much. That camp is represented with the next reaction from a very suspicious mind, complete with an appropriate Dance Moms GIF for added effect:

Meanwhile, those who are happy for the Elvis train to keep rolling have come out to support Butler and his continued rockabilly swagger. Sharing his acceptance speech from Tuesday night’s awards show, we have our final supporter for Team Elvis. And if you were to ask this person their opinion about the matter face to face, they’d probably tell you, “that’s alright.”

While there is a concern that Austin Butler could be wearing out his welcome with his Elvis act, one would think he still takes breaks from it from time to time. It'd be especially vital for him to do so on his upcoming gig in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, which is set for release on November 3. Unless, of course, his director wants a Memphis style Feyd-Rautha as part of the Dune sequel's cast.

The road to the Oscars ends on Sunday, March 12, with the results of that night potentially determining the fate of Austin Butler’s Elvis persona. To get a look at the rest of this year’s incoming entertainments, don’t forget to consult the 2023 new movie releases schedule. And if you're looking to dig into the Butler/Elvis experience, that show's running whenever you're ready at the time of this writing thanks to the film streaming on HBO Max.

It seems like almost three full months ago, moviegoers were heading to their local theater to see Elvis, the latest of Baz Luhrmann’s movies. Oh wait, it was actually that long ago. Well, following Elvis collecting over $283 million worldwide and becoming available for HBO Max subscribers to stream, it’s been announced that another movie about the King of Rock has been cast. Better yet, we know who will be playing Elvis Presley this time around.

A24 is teaming with director Sofia Coppola on Priscilla, which is based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley, who was married to the singer from 1967 to 1973 and Sandra Harmon. Jacob Elordi, best known for Netflix’s Kissing Booth movies and his role on HBO’s Euphoria, will play Elvis Presley, while Cailee Spaeny, who recently plated Anna Roosevelt Halstead in the Showtime series The First Lady, has been tapped to play Priscilla Presley, who was originally known as Priscilla Beaulieu. In addition to her helming duties, Coppola also worked on Priscilla’s script.

According to Deadline, Sofia Coppola has been looking to tackle Priscilla “for some time” as her follow-up to the 2020 Apple TV+ movie On the Rocks, which also hailed from A24 and starred Bill Murray and Rashida Jones. Although Coppola reportedly met with a number of actors for the Elvis Presley role, Cailee Spaeny was the only actress she had in mind to play Priscilla Presley. Coppola first collaborated with A24 on 2013’s The Bling Ring, and she also has an upcoming TV adaptation of the Edith Wharton novel The Custom of the Country set up at the production company.

Although The Society’s Olivia DeJonge had an important supporting role as Priscilla Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, clearly Priscilla will see Cailee Spaeny’s version of her and Jacob Elordi’s Elvis Presley sharing more equal status with one another. The original Elvis and Me memoir, which came out eight years after the King of Rock passed away, detailed how Priscilla met Elvis, their marriage and what led to them separating. Together they had Lisa Marie Presley, who was born in 1968. This will actually be the second time Elvis and Me has been adapted, as it was previously turned into the same-named TV movie that aired in 1988.

Priscilla is on track to begin filming this fall in Toronto, and while it might be cutting it close to have this ready for the 2023 movie schedule, maybe there’s a chance Sofia Coppola new flick could just barely make the cut before the next year is over rather than be saved for 2024. Whether that happens or not, Priscilla will see Coppola reuniting with a number of her previous collaborators, including director of photography Philippe Le Sourd,  costume designer Stacey Battat, editor Sarah Flack and production designer Tamara Deverell. 

With Priscilla’s production set to begin before 2022 is over, the coming weeks will presumably bring forth the announcements of other actors who are joining Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny. While we wait for that information, check out what 2022 movies are currently playing at a theater near you.

Elvis may have left the building, but he’ll be gyrating into theaters this summer, thanks to director Baz Luhrmann (The Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet). Elvis, the story of one of music’s biggest icons, sees rising star Austin Butler in the title role, with Tom Hanks like we’ve never seen him before playing Elvis Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker. The film debuted at Cannes on May 25, and critics have some pretty strong opinions about what they saw. Despite the reported 12-minute standing ovation and huge praise from the King’s ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, the biopic is receiving some pretty brutal feedback.

The first footage we got from the Elvis trailer looked stunning, and the movie promises to show about 20 years of the musician’s life, from his humble beginnings all the way to his tragic death in 1977. Baz Luhrmann seems to have gotten creative with his storytelling, leading to polarizing reviews from the critics ahead of the film’s theatrical release on June 24. One thing that’s not up for debate, according to Stephanie Zacharek of Time, is the director’s love for his subject. She says: 

While many reviews aren’t as complimentary as the one above, most of the critics agree that Austin Butler does more than imitate Elvis Presley’s prolific dance moves and singing voice. He apparently embodies the character in a way that is no small feat for possibly the most imitated person in pop culture. Anna Smith of U.K.’s Metro newspaper acknowledges this but says as good as Butler is, Tom Hanks is equally as bad:

David Ehrlich of IndieWire grades the movie a D, saying Austin Butler’s performance is worthy of the King, but he's buried alive under a rhinestone rollercoaster of weak biopic tropes. He also wonders why Colonel Tom Parker is the main character of a movie called that holds the late rocker's name: 

Caspar Salmon of The Daily Beast says Elvis “lurches about flashing its gold like a drunk old millionaire in a strip joint,” calling the biopic “utterly exhausting.” It rushes past important aspects of the singer’s life, like how he went from promising upstart to the superstar owner of Graceland. His mother’s death is also seemingly neglected. This critic says:

Adam Solomons of AwardsWatch grades the movie a C+, appropriately, since this review can’t seem to choose which side of the rating to fall on. The critic calls the movie “terrible” and yet “wildly entertaining”:

For all the strong opinions being offered, it seems the negative reviews all praise one aspect of the film or another, while the positive reviews still also have major concerns. For what it’s worth, 34 critics who have seen the movie and rated it on Rotten Tomatoes have scored it above average, with an 82% rating and average score of 6.8 out of 10.

Elvis will be released exclusively in theaters on Friday, June 24, and should be available for streaming to HBO Max subscribers in August. In the meantime, be sure to check out our 2022 Movie Release Schedule to start planning your next trip to the theater! 

Whenever there’s a high profile biopic that comes out, it’s not unique for the family of the subject to speak out about said movie or television show. Famously, 2019’s Best Picture winner Green Book was slammed by Dr. Donald Shirley’s family, and Nina Simone’s daughter Lisa was unhappy with 2016’s Nina, which had Zoe Saldaña portraying the singer. With Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis just two months away, we’ve finally heard word from the late King of Rock and Roll’s ex-wife Priscilla Presley. 

Priscilla Presley met Elvis in 1959 and married him in 1967. They divorced in 1973, but their daughter Lisa Marie Presley remained a connective tissue in their lives until Elvis’ death in 1977. Priscilla took to her Facebook page to share her thoughts on Elvis, and she sounds pleased with the upcoming 2022 movie: 

The 76-year-old businesswoman and actress shared some serious praise for Elvis ahead of its summer release. She specifically shouted out Austin Butler’s performance as her ex-husband, calling the actor “outstanding” in the role of the King. Butler was cast in summer of 2019, reportedly beating out bigger names like Harry Styles, Ansel Elgort and Miles Teller for the role. 

Priscilla Presley also talked briefly about Tom Hanks in the role of Colonel Tom Parker, who was Elvis Presley’s manager. Priscilla shared that from her own personal experiences, there were “two sides” of the manager, which she was witness to in her own life. She said that she feels like Elvis will give audiences a greater understanding of the singer’s life through the movie. 

This is probably the best thumbs up Baz Luhrmman could have received for Elvis, and knowing that the King’s own wife of many years recommends it adds to the hype of the release. Check out the trailer for Elvis below: 

Elvis was shot in Australia just as the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread. Tom Hanks was filming the movie when he got coronavirus in early March 2020, alongside his wife Rita Wilson. They were among the first major names to contract the virus. This is Baz Luhrmann’s first movie in almost a decade, following The Great Gatsby. The director also reimagined Shakespeare with 1996’s Romeo + Juliet and made the now-classic musical Moulin Rouge., as well as created the short-lived Netflix series The Get Down.

Elvis, which also stars Dacre Montgomery, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Xavier Samuel, hits theaters on June 24, 2022. 

Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic has been a long time in the making, with the production taking almost a decade to make it to the big screen. While last fall saw a bit of footage revealed through a quick teaser from Lurhmann himself, it was all too brief and left his fans wanting more. That’s all changed now, as the Austin Butler/Tom Hanks-starring biopic has now given us a better look at what to expect, and we’re all shook up. 

Finally revealing Butler’s looks as The King, Warner Bros. freshly delivered the first trailer for the studio's June release. Showing us various points in Presley's life and career, it looks absolutely stunning in its first footage. Though Austin Butler’s Elvis Presley is undoubtedly taking center stage, we’ve also gotten a look at a Tom Hanks performance, too. It's one that Baz Luhrmann has teased with some pretty high expectations. 

Playing Presley’s manager Colonel Tom Parker, the Moulin Rouge director promises we’ll see a previously unknown side to Mr. Hanks’ acting. From the looks of what we’ve seen above, as well as the official still included below, transformative prosthetics look to be a component that’ll enhance the already iconic actor’s abilities.

Framed as a tale being told by Col. Parker himself, we’re also privy to some Tom Hanks narration to set the tone in this history-spanning story. With talk of greatness and destiny in the air, one can’t help but be reminded of how the “cradle to grave” musical biopic has somewhat fallen out of style in recent years. For every Bohemian Rhapsody style success, there's a tale of a movie like Respect falling flat at the box office to counter it.  

Few movies of this ilk have found their way to audiences hearts as of late, but leave it to the Australian director who gave us Romeo + Juliet to rebel against such a notion.  Watching this trailer, Luhrmann’s unique visual style and energy is out in force, bringing an electricity to this brief glimpse. Elvis Presley’s hips have always been legendary, but the way this trailer brings that fact to life needs to be seen to be believed. The momentum is undeniable, and especially encouraging after COVID-19 had temporarily shut down production due to Tom Hanks' surprising diagnosis. 

It’s another part of Austin Butler’s leading performance that occupies a cozy intersection between mimicry and sincerity. Embodying the man and the myth, Elvis’s trailer shows off Butler’s skills alongside its visual sizzle. It should also be noted that through his own singing and vocal performance, the man continues to absolutely nailing this role so far. Which kind of isn't a surprise, as Mr. Butler landed this role after his appearance in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

Thanks to this trailer for Elvis, there seems to be new life in the musical biopic. Opting for a flare that’s reminiscent of what we saw in Dexter Fletcher’s Rocketman, Baz Luhrmann seems ready to tell an American success story with a bold visual language. As it’s being helped along by Austin Butler and Tom Hanks’ impressive-looking performances, the world might just say “thank ‘ya very much” once the final result has been unleashed.

Can this musical biography be the next Bohemian Rhapsody style success story, similarly smashing overseas box office milestones as that film had? We'll see when Elvis enters the building, and the theater, on June 24th. With plenty of other new movie releases making up the 2022 calendar, there will be other films to help pass the time until then. So don’t be cruel, and give the full rundown a look for your next trip to the movies.

Baz Luhrmann and Tom Hanks teamed up for one of the most highly anticipated 2022 movies, which deals with the life and fame of Elvis Presley. Baz Luhrmann and Tom Hanks are both world renowned artists, and this Elvis Presley project has the potential to be another career high for both. It’s been many years in the making, but fans of Baz Luhrmann, Tom Hanks, Elvis Presley, or all three will finally see this movie come to the big screen in 2022. 

Before Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley movie comes to a theater near you, let’s take a look at some of the things we know about it so far. 

Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley Movie Premieres On June 24, 2022

Warner Bros. Pictures plans to release Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis film on June 24, 2022. 

In 2014, The Wrap broke the story that Warner Bros. Pictures and Baz Luhrmann were negotiating a deal for him to direct a movie about the life of Elvis Presley. However, production went into high gear in 2019. By August of that year, Warner Bros. planned to release the movie on October 1, 2021, but the pandemic caused filming and release dates to become a bit uncertain. 

By April 2020, the film had moved to a November 5, 2021 release. Then in January 2021, the film was set to premiere on June 3, 2022. It was announced in November 2021 that the Elvis Presley film would premiere in theaters on June 24, 2022. Warner Bros. announced in August 2021, that all their films would exclusively premiere in theaters for a 45 day window and then become available on HBO Max. This likely means that Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley movie will appear on HBO Max by the end of August 2022.

Austin Butler Stars As Elvis Presley In Baz Luhrmann’s Film

In July 2019, Deadline officially revealed that Austin Butler would take on the role of The King in Baz Luhrmann’s film. A few weeks prior to this announcement, The Hollywood Reporter noted that Butler’s name was on a short list of potential actors to play Elvis Presley.

Those names were Butler, Harry Styles, Ansel Elgort, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Miles Teller. Butler has appeared in many film and television shows, but this upcoming Elvis movie could make him a big household name. Luhrmann has already spoken about Butler’s performance in the film.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Luhrmann had this to say about Austin Butler’s performance:

Luhrmann speaking so highly of Butler’s performance makes us even more excited to watch his version of Elvis Presley. 

The Cast Of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley Movie Includes An Ensemble Led By Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks joined this movie project long before Austin Butler had the role of the famed singer. Hanks plays Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker. Maggie Gyllenhaal and Rufus Sewell were originally attached to play Elvis Presley’s parents, but before filming began, Richard Roxburgh and Helen Thomson took on the roles of Vernon and Gladys Presley. 

The Elvis Presley film cast also includes other familiar names, such as Dacre Montgomery, David Wenham, and Luke Bracey. Kelvin Harrison Jr. also has a major role in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley movie, and plays B.B King. Olivia DeJonge plays the role of Elvis Presley’s wife Priscilla Presley.

The Cast Of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley Film Combines Established Musicians With Up and Coming Artists

According to a Deadline source, Luhrmann wanted to mix well-known music stars with rising talents. The supporting roles in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley film include Grammy winners and nominees, such as Gary Clark Jr. as Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, and Yola as Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The lesser-known musicians include Shonka Dukureh as Big Mama Thornton,  Shannon Sanders, Lenesha Randolph, and Jordan Holland.

Luhrmann also cast newcomer Alton Mason in a major role as Little Richard.

Baz Luhrmann Released A Teaser For His Elvis Presley Movie

In November 2021, Baz Luhrmann posted a teaser for the film on Twitter. It just shows the back of Austin Butler’s head in various scenes from the film. It’s only 19 seconds and features Elvis’ song “Suspicious Minds” in the background. The clip also ends with the initials TCB, which stands for “Taking Care of Business,” which was one of Elvis Presley’s personal mantras. Though Baz Luhrmann’s movie is still officially untitled, many may assume that TCB or “Taking Care of Business” will be the name of the film.

The teaser also revealed the official release date, June 24, 2022. The first look of Baz Luhrmann’s film definitely leaves us wanting more. Hopefully, Luhrmann and team release an official trailer within the first few months of 2022. 

Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley Movie Filmed in Queensland

Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley movie began filming in March 2020, but had to halt production when Tom Hanks contracted the coronavirus. Filming officially resumed in September 2020, and Luhrmann told KFTV that Australia was “one of the great filmmaking locations in the world.”

In an interview with Australian Financial Review, Baz Luhrmann discussed how Australia is having a major moment in the film industry with more movies being filmed there, and some studios even considering relocating to various locations in Australia. He talks about the benefits and drawbacks to this surge of films, and also shared how the location has affected how he feels about his Elvis movie. 

Baz Luhrmann’s Film Depicts 20 Years Of Elvis Presley’s Life

In many of Deadline’s cast announcements, the synopsis for the film revealed that it depicts 20 years of Elvis’ life, starting from his humble beginnings. Luhrmann confirmed this in his Australian Financial Review interview. He also said that the film will be less about Elvis and more about showcasing American life from the '50s, '60s, and '70s:

Luhrmann also gave more plot details, including the heart of the Elvis film. 

He also went on to explain more about the film, especially with what Tom Hanks’ character represents. 

Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley movie will for sure have people talking. He also assured people that Austin Butler and Tom Hanks both give stellar performances. If the release date isn’t changed, expect to see Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis movie in theaters on June 24, 2022. 

Sometimes a job writing about movies follows a familiar trajectory, including writing about Marvel’s latest or how the box office fared over the weekend. Other times, I wake up to find out that one time Elvis got a little too, erm, excited while filming a dance sequence for his 1962 film Girls! Girls! Girls! The moment can still be seen in the final cut of the film, and thanks to a book about the singer and actor, we know the details about what happened. 

The scene in question is from Girls! Girls! Girls! and features a youngish Elvis Presley dancing with his co-star Laurel Goodwin as part of a number called “The Walls Have Ears.” The two dance and knock on walls to see what the neighbors are up to, but when they are dancing together, they are dancing quite close. Elvis’ then road manager, Joe Esposito (not to be confused with the character Tom Hanks will play in the upcoming biopic), recalled in his memoir Good Rockin’ Tonight that Elvis was aware of the spontaneous erection when it happened, leading Elvis to wonder about reshoots. Elvis reportedly said:

If you’ve seen “The Walls Have Ears” number, you should know it’s pretty complex. Both Elvis Presley and Laurel Goodwin have to keep rhythm with their feet, there are complicated knocking effects with stuff falling off walls and, of course, there’s some very close dancing, to boot. Take a look.

The rough cuts showed the erection pretty blatantly, but Esposito really believed that the shots wouldn’t make the final cut of the film. He would be wrong, however. In fact, the number was so complicated that Joe Esposito also said in the memoir (via The Mirror) that ultimately the movie kept the take. He noted that when he finally saw the theatrical version of the film, the moments were there. It’s the type of thing that you can’t really unsee once you have seen.

It’s not as if this is the first time this has ever happened to an actor on the big (or small) screen. Samuel L. Jackson has a whole trick for how he handles the possibility of an erection during sex scenes. James McAvoy admitted to much the same thing while he was busy filming the British version of Shameless. And even reality TV isn't immune to this sort thing, as Bachelorette contestant Tyler Cameron once admitted to having a "boner" on TV, though in his case, he wore it rather proudly. 

I suppose it could be worse. Viola Davis once was actually injured during a sex scene on set, which is not something I’d wish on anyone. However, I’m still not sure if I was an actor if I’d be happy for an edit like the one found in Girls! Girls! Girls! to exist on film in perpetuity. The good news? There are plenty of other ways Elvis has been immortalized over the years. 

Why does hair make such a difference on a person? Whether longer than usual, or shorter than expected, it’s usually one of the first comments we make about people we know after seeing them make a major change. “Oh man, you colored your hair!” “What happened to your hair?” And now, in the case of Tom Hanks and the fact that he shaved all of his hair off, we ask, “Why would you do something like that?!” Here’s a hairless Hanks on The Graham Norton Show. It’s eye-catching.

Tom Hanks is back in Australia filming Baz Luhrmann’s as-yet-untitled Elvis Presley biopic, where he will be playing The King’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker. And in order to do this, Hanks has to shave off his entire head, a look that he rarely wears on screen. Trying to think back over Hanks’ career, Philadelphia comes to mind as a time when the actor shaved off his signature curls. Probably in Saving Private Ryan, too?

We’re not dogging on Tom Hanks’ look. We’re merely picking up the baton of what he says about it! The actor was jokingly teasing Graham Norton during an appearance on the show, saying of the haircut:

In case you blinked while watching the clip, here’s the tease that Tom Hanks gave the audience, as it’s not making its rounds thanks to the Internet.

Tom Hanks is such a good sport about this whole thing, and he absolutely knows how to play his new look to the camera to generate the most press. Of course, his time spent in Australia ALREADY has generated more than enough press. As you no doubt recall, Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson were down under working on this Elvis movie when they each contracted COVID-19, making Hanks one of the earliest celebrity cases of the virus. He recovered beautifully, and shared several warm posts during his health journey. We are thrilled to see him back to work.

This has been a busy year for Tom Hanks, even on top of contracting a deadly disease. Professionally, he released two films in these uncertain times, one of which is in theaters as we speak. In Paul Greengrass’ wonderful News of the World, Hanks plays a frontiersman who earns his keep traveling from town to town in the post-Civil War west reading the headlines of the time. It’s an ideal role for his history buff on Hanks’ level, and it absolutely earns the right to be seen on the biggest screen possible, if theaters are operating safely in your area.

We will continue to track Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis project, which stars Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker and Austin Butler as the legendary singer-songwriter.

Six months after production on Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic shut down, the cast and crew are getting back together this month to continue work on the film in Queensland, Australia. The shutdown initially sent shockwaves through to Hollywood in March when Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, became the first major figures to test positive for COVID-19, leading to a slew of other production closures.

The movie stars Austin Butler as the King of Rock n’ Roll and Tom Hanks as his longtime manager, Colonel Tom Parker, throughout their 20 year relationship as Elvis Presley rose to prominence in the ‘50s. Baz Luhrmann’s film is set to go back to Australia to pick up where they left off on September 23, per Deadline. The cast and crew are currently quarantining in anticipation to get back to it later this month. In the director’s words:

Warner Bros’ Elvis movie, which is expected to be released in late 2021, officially packed things up on March 19 following Tom Hanks confirming he’d tested positive for COVID-19. He and his wife then quarantined, exhibiting their symptoms Down Under until they were cleared to fly back to their home in Los Angeles.

According to Baz Luhrmann, the production was in the middle of a scene involving “basically hundreds of girls kissing Elvis” when the world shifted course in March toward safe social distancing protocols and worldwide business closures, including movie theaters. The risk of sets infecting its cast and crew is very much a possibility, as The Batman set has clearly shown since its main star, Robert Pattinson, reportedly tested positive and the set was recently shut down again. But productions such as this one are certainly ready to try to be productive on their high-profile movies.

The Elvis film is Baz Luhrmann’s first movie since 2013’s The Great Gatsby, and along with producing, he also co-wrote the feature with Sam Bromell, Saving Mr. Banks’ Kelly Marcel and Moulin Rouge’s Craig Pearce. The Visit’s Olivia DeJonge will portray Priscilla Presley, and Maggie Gyllenhaal and Rufus Sewell will play Elvis’ parents.

The movie is certainly not an easy one to film under the circumstances. You’d expect an Elvis movie would be roaring with concert crowds and sex appeal. We’ll keep you updated on Tom Hanks’ upcoming film, which is expected to come out on November 5, 2021, here on CinemaBlend.

There was a time, quite recently, when it seemed that music biopics were all the rage in Hollywood with the release of the Queen-inspired Bohemian Rhapsody, followed by Rocketman with Taron Egerton as Elton John, and production of an Elvis movie taking off years after it was greeenlit. However, that all changed when the film’s star, Tom Hanks, contracted Covid-19, and the pandemic became the most talked about thing in the movie (or any) industry today.

Like most film productions lately, the movie recounting the prolific career of the man dubbed the “King of Rock ’n Roll” has been at a standstill since health safety policies were put in place on a global scale. Also like most highly anticipated films, the fate of its shooting schedule since the outbreak has been a relatively hot-button topic, not just over concerns for its already adjusted release date, but more importantly, for the safety of its cast and crew.

If you are one brazen fan eager to know when this Elvis Presley movie will come out of the jailhouse, or if this is somehow the first time you are hearing about any of it, we can provide you will all the up-to-date information on the film’s status. Here's what's going on with the long-awaited biopic, starting with the basic facts.

What The Elvis Movie Is About

The still currently untitled biopic is said to trace actor and musician Elvis Presley's career from his explosive debut to his untimely death, with certain attention focused on the rocky relationship with his manager Col. Tom Parker. Two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks was first cast as the Dutch manager in March 2019, followed by Disney Channel veteran and Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood star Austin Butler was cast as “the King.” Australian actress Olivia DeJonge, best known for the 2015 horror flick The Visit, would also join the cast as Elvis’ wife Priscilla, along with Rufus Swell and Maggie Gyllenhaal as his parents.

Yet, the story really began five years earlier in April 2014, when reports came out that Warner Bros. was in negotiations with Baz Luhrmann to direct the picture from an original script by Fifty Shades of Grey screenwriter Kelly Marcel, who also wrote Saving Mr. Banks, which starred Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. This Elvis movie should not, however, be confused with Growing Up Graceland. The cinematic adaptation of the book Conversations With the King: Journals of a Young Apprentice, written by Presley's half-brother David E. Stanley with David Gruder, has not seen the light of day since it went into development in 2012.

The Elvis Movie Was Set For An October 2021 Release

Within weeks of Austin Butler’s casting in the much sought-after lead role, Warner Bros. announced October 5, 2021 as the official release date for its still untitled Elvis Presley biopic. In addition to directing the picture, according to Deadline, it appeared that screenwriting duties had also been transferred over to Baz Luhrmann with Craig Pearce, his frequent writing partner of Moulin Rouge! and The Great Gatsby fame, among others.

Principle photography of the Elvis film, The Get Down creator Baz Luhrmann’s first feature since his aforementioned 2013 F. Scott Fitzgerald adaptation, was set to begin in early 2020, as reported by Variety, at Warner Bros’ own Village Roadshow studios in Coomera, Queensland, Australia, which is also the director’s home country. However, not long before cameras were set to roll in March, all of that would change with the shocking news centered around movie’s biggest star.

Elvis Movie Star Tom Hanks Contracted Covid-19, Halting Production In Australia

On March 11, 2020, Tom Hanks revealed in a tweet that he and his wife, actress Rita Wilson, had both been diagnosed with Covid-19, becoming the first celebrities to make headlines for such a topic, while he was preparing to start filming the Elvis Presley biopic in Australia. Director Baz Luhrmann’s recollection to Deadline of the day he discovered his Col. Tom Parker actor had been affected by the blossoming pandemic perfectly encapsulates its growing concern on the film industry, as seen below:

Not surprisingly, production was officially put to a stop just days later, which Baz Luhrmann announced himself in a statement he posted to Twitter on March 20. Warner Bros. would also add the Elvis movie to its list of delayed theatrical releases, postponing the original October 1, 2021, date to November 5 of that year.

The Elvis Movie Is Now Taking Precautionary Steps To Resume Production

Amid reports that movie theaters are planning to open their doors once again and some films unpausing their production schedules, reports that the Elvis Presley biopic is officially shaping up to see the cameras finally roll as soon as late August 2020. This news comes months after star Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson made a full recovery from their Covid-19 diagnoses and following the initial announcement that Baz Luhrmann had requested to resume the Australian production in late June.

According to an article ran by The Brisbane Times on August 14, Queensland’s Village Roadshow facilities is setting up a Covid-19 testing center on site, which all cast and crew members will be required to check in at. Furthermore, any person involved with the production from overseas, or from one of Australia’s most reportedly infected areas, must undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine before setting foot on the set. It seems that they are really putting safety first because, instead of its once promised November 2021 release, the biopic is now scheduled to come out in the summer of 2022, specifically on June 3.

Be sure to check back for additional information and updates related to the Elvis Presley biopic, as well as the status of even more of the movies and TV shows you are most looking forward to amid the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, here on CinemaBlend.

Many Hollywood productions are slowly starting to get ready to resume filming this summer and during the latter part of this year after a major three-month setback. The COVID-19 pandemic altered many initial Hollywood plans earlier this year and, when Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for coronavirus while working on Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic, it served as a wake-up call for Hollywood. After the couple announced their diagnosis back in mid-March and the film was delayed, many other sets started packing up, too.

Now, it looks like the film centered on Elvis Presley and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, may continue in Australia soon ahead of its fall 2021 release date. Queensland’s Premier (Australia’s equivalent to a prime minister) Annastacia Palaszczuk recently met with Baz Luhrmann about returning to the country to get back to work, and a “safe plan” is currently being developed for the biopic and other productions that are set for the Gold Coast.

Palaszczuk said she wants to ensure the movie can resume shooting “as soon as possible,” but the government would also like to make sure the cast and crew can “operate safely,” per Daily Mail. No specific date for the music biopic on The King has been disclosed, but Screen Queensland and Queensland Health are actively working toward this.

Less than two weeks ago, Los Angeles received the go-ahead to resume Hollywood work with a ton of restrictions, including crew being required to wear masks and the requirement for sex scenes to be rewritten, abandoned or adjusted using CGI. Production will be particularly tough for a film of this subject matter, since much of Elvis Presley’s life took place in front of droves of fans and large gatherings are outlawed in many regions.

On the day the Elvis film had to shut down, the movie’s Presley actor Austin Butler was at the center of “basically hundreds of girls kissing Elvis,” according to the director. Time will tell if Baz Luhrmann got what he needed for that scene since chances are something of that breadth may not be allowed under Australia’s requirements. Though the Gold Coast is at a much more stable condition than the U.S. considering the country just reported its first death in a month.

The untitled flick is set to be Baz Luhrmann’s first flick since 2013’s The Great Gatsby and will track Elvis Presley’s rise to fame and his relationship with his manager, played by Tom Hanks. The movie has already been delayed from its original June 2021 date to November 5, 2021. In regard to Hanks and Rita Wilson, after having coronavirus for a couple weeks in March, the two completely recovered, returned to their home in Los Angeles and have been donating plasma to support the effort for health professionals to find a vaccine.

Tom Hanks will next star in World War II drama Greyhound, which is hitting Apple TV+ on July 10. Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more exciting updates on movie productions.

Along with the boom of superhero movies and the horror genre among the masses, interest and blockbuster potential of music biopics was made apparent in 2018 with the release of Bohemian Rhapsody. The movie, based on Freddie Mercury’s life with his band Queen, soared to $903 million globally and won four Oscars, including Rami Malek scoring one for his portrayal of the “Killer Queen” frontman. Following its success, plenty more movies about famous musicians are on their way.

In 2019, we had Rocketman tracking Elton John’s life in the form of a musical. What’s next and will any of them top Bohemian Rhapsody’s status as the highest-grossing music biopic of all time? Here are the subjects whose lives are being primed for cinematic study:

Motörhead

The latest news on the music biopic front is a closer look into a defining band for the heavy metal/punk scene with a biopic about Motörhead called Lemmy. The title takes after the band's frontman Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister, who had a notable life, starting off as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix and as a member ofpsychedelic rock band Hawkwing before forming the influential Motörhead with Eddie Clarke and Phil Taylor, who will also be focused on in the film. Lemmy will be directed by Greg Daniels, who previously made a 2010 Motörhead documentary with the same name. He told Deadline he's been developing the project since 2013 with Motörhead’s manager Todd Singerman. Here's what Olliver said about the upcoming biopic:

Lemmy is looking at an early 2021 production start date and is sure to give fans of bands such as Megadeath, Metallica and Anthrax context to key history into heavy metal.

Bob Dylan

James Mangold is directing a movie about Bob Dylan starring Little Women’s Timothée Chalamet. The 24-year-old actor has made a name for himself in the past couple years for his roles in Call Me By Your Name, Beautiful Boy and Lady Bird. According to Deadline, the young actor will portray Bob Dylan at the time when he decided to embrace Rock and ditch his Folk roots. The working title is Going Electric, and it will be directed by the filmmaker behind Logan, Ford v Ferrari and Oscar-nominated Johnny Cash biopic, Walk the Line.

Michael Jackson

Graham King, the producer of Bohemian Rhapsody, is keeping busy with music biopics with two on the way. The first is a biopic about “Thriller” icon Michael Jackson. The movie is said to span his entire life, including the sexual abuse allegations that recently were explored in HBO’s Leaving Neverland. The movie reportedly “won’t be sanitized.” King obtained access to all of Jackson’s music from his family’s estate and the movie is set to be written by John Logan, who is behind the Oscar-nominated scripts for Gladiator and Hugo, along with Sweeney Todd, Skyfall, Spectre and The Aviator.

Bee Gees

The second music biopic in the works from Graham King is one for the Bee Gees! The ‘70s group consisted of three brothers, who are most famously known for their songs on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack including “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever.” The Disco-era movie about the group seems to be not as far along than the one featuring Michael Jackson, but Paramount has purchased the life rights to the Gibb family – therefore leaving the ability for their music library to be featured in the upcoming movie about them.

David Bowie

This one’s expected to come in May of this year. Stardust is a small independent film about a 24-year-old David Bowie’s first tour across the United States back in 1971. Johnny Flynn of Netflix’s Lovesick is playing Bowie, with Jena Malone and Marc Maron also part of the cast This was the time when Bowie was donning a folk-rock aesthetic and he was contemplating the persona of Ziggy Stardust, which would later propel him to later mega-stardom in the ‘70s and ‘80s. However, Bowie’s son Duncan Jones has made it clear he’s not supporting this project, and Stardust doesn’t have the rights to Bowie's music.

Aretha Franklin

Another music biopic coming out in 2020 is Respect, which is about the legendary R&B vocalist, Aretha Franklin. The late singer picked Jennifer Hudson to play her years prior, and the movie has finally gotten off the ground and is coming on August 14. Along with Hudson, Forest Whitaker is playing her civil rights activist preacher father; Marlon Wayans will portray her first husband, Ted White; and Mary J. Blige will be Dinah Washington. Respect is directed by Liesl Tommy, who previously helmed episodes of Insecure and Jessica Jones.

Elvis Presley

Baz Luhrmann, the famed director of Moulin Rouge, The Great Gatsby and Romeo + Juliet, is finally returning to the director’s chair for the first time in over five years to make a film on the life of Elvis Presley. Television actor (and recently seen in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) Austin Butler is portraying “The King,” beating out Harry Styles, Ansel Elgort and Miles Teller for the role. Tom Hanks has been rumored to be playing Elvis’ manager “Colonel Tom” Parker, who had a controlling hold on the singer’s life. The movie is expected to start shooting soon in Queensland, Australia.

Amy Winehouse

In late 2018, the family of the late Amy Winehouse announced a biopic about their daughter was in works over at Monumental Pictures – which has ties to Anne with an E, Harlots and How to Build a Girl. Eight years after the “Back to Black” singer’s death at 27, her family feel the “time was right” to now tell her story on the big screen. Proceeds from the film will reportedly benefit the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which works to prevent the effects of drugs and alcohol on young people, something she famously struggled with and ultimately died from alcohol poisoning. The movie will be written by Kinky Boots’ Geoff Deane.

Boy George

Back in May 2019, it was announced that a biopic about Boy George was in the works to be written and directed by Sacha Gervasi, who previously worked on Hitchcock, November Criminals and The Terminal. On a radio show, Boy George said he’d like Sophie Turner to play him for the movie. The two do have a serious resemblance! Turner tweeted out “I’m SO down” following his interview, but not much else has been reported about the Boy George movie. The ‘80s icon first became prominent for his hit “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?” with his band Culture Club and has since become a LGBTQ icon.

There’s a lot of music biopics on the way! There's also been brief mentions for movies centered on Bob Marley, Carole King, Celine Dion, Gucci Mane, Madonna, John Lennon and Yoko One. Considering the success of Bohemian Rhapsody, it seems like the interest in the production of these movies are at an all-time high!

Which of these are you most excited to see? Sound off in the comments below and vote in the poll below! Check out five great music biopics to check out if you liked Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman!

When the world learned that Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson had coronavirus, the general response seemed to be shock. That was even moreso the case for director Baz Luhrmann, who was at the helm of the Elvis biopic Hanks was shooting in Australia at the time he has diagnosed. Luhrmann vividly remembers the moment he learned Tom Hanks had contracted the virus and how the film crew reacted to the knowledge.

It’s hard to say that anything associated with the pandemic can be attributed to good timing. In the case of Tom Hanks’ diagnosis though, it sounds like there was a hint of luck involved. Baz Luhrmann had connected with a public health official and the premier of Queensland, Australia in February after there had been a coronavirus case where the cast and crew were staying. That previous interaction left him somewhat prepared for what was to come -- a dramatic and frightening moment to be sure. Baz Lurhmann learned about Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson falling ill while he was in the midst of final preparations for production:

Though it was obviously a stressful event for all involved, Baz Lurhmann told Deadline that he has been able to find a sliver of a silver lining in the whole ordeal:

He’s not wrong. For many of us, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson were the first people we “knew” who had coronavirus, and their diagnoses definitely marked a turning point in public consciousness. Their cases also served as a great example for how to minimize the potential spread of the virus. The actors practiced and frequently advocated for self-quarantining -- and Baz Lurhmann said, anyone who had come in contact with Tom Hanks also did the same.

Thus far, no other positive cases came from anyone on the cast or crew. For now, the production has understandably been delayed, but Baz Luhrmann is working closely with Australian officials to decide when it’s safe to resume.

Whether you love the music and movies of Elvis Presley or not, there's no getting around the fact that the man is a legend. Never mind the fact that you can get married by one of his many impersonators in Las Vegas, Elvis is a pop culture icon who's been portrayed as a character in many movies since his death in 1977. Now Netflix is working on a show about the late King that is promising to be absolutely ridiculous in the most wonderful way possible. Hold on to your peanut butter and banana sandwiches, everyone, because Agent King is coming our way!

Agent King has gotten a series order from Netflix, but this will be nothing like anything we've seen from any small or big screen version of Elvis Presley. The series will be an adult animated comedy about - wait for it - Elvis working as a spy. I know! According to Deadline, Agent King will focus on Elvis being covertly inducted into a super secret spy program so that he can work for the country he adores as he continues to live a public life as the King of Rock and Roll.

I mean, could the idea for this show get any better?

In case you're wondering how Elvis' former wife, Priscilla Presley, is going to feel about this wacky idea, well, no need to worry, friends...because she co-created the show! John Eddie helped Presley come up with the idea, and will help her executive produce along with Mike Arnold and Jamie Salter. Arnold is also acting as showrunner and writer for the comedy, and if you're wondering what kind of comedic tone Agent King is going for, knowing that Arnold worked on Archer should give you a pretty good idea of the type of insanity that will likely ensue.

As if all of that weren't enough, most of you will probably know that fashion was a pretty big deal to Elvis, especially later in his life. Well, legendary fashion designer John Varvatos will actually be custom designing Elvis' full wardrobe for the show, which, remember, is a cartoon. Varvatos is also a consulting producer on Agent King, along with Jerry Schilling.

I take back my earlier statement. Agent King just got 9000% cooler!

You might be wondering how Priscilla Presley and John Eddie even came up with such a fabulously out-there premise for Agent King, so here's what Presley had to say about it:

OK! It sounds like Presley sees this show as a way of fulfilling one of her former husband's dreams. We don't know right now when Agent King will debut on Netflix or how many episodes will make up the first season, but it sounds like the show will certainly be worth the wait even if we only get a handful of installments.

Stick with CinemaBlend so we can keep you up to date on all the new details about Agent King as they become available. To bide your time until then, be sure to check out our 2019 Netflix premiere guide and fall television premiere guide!

It’s been a while since director Baz Luhrmann delivered a movie to the masses, the last one being his adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby in 2013. But the filmmaker is finally moving full steam ahead on his next cinematic project, which will be a biopic centered on the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. It’s now been announced that The Shannara Chronicles star Austin Butler has been cast as the iconic musician.

Word came in earlier this month that Austin Butler was one of the finalists to play Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s biopic, and now he’s beaten out Harry Styles, Ansel Elgort and Miles Teller for the role, though Luhrmann took his time making a selection. Here’s what the director told Deadline about how he concluded that Butler was the right actor to bring Elvis to life in his movie:

Austin Butler has primarily made an impression in the TV realm, recurring in shows like Life Unexpected, Switched at Birth and Arrow, and being the lead in the short-lived The Carrie Diaries and The Shannara Chronicles, the latter of which ended in November 2017. On the big screen, Butler’s credits include Yoga Hosers, The Dead Don’t Die and the upcoming Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

He will act in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic alongside Tom Hanks, who is playing Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presely’s longtime manager who controlled almost every aspect of the singer’s life. While the movie will chronicle Elvis’ path to becoming a worldwide phenomenon, it will specifically frame this story through his complex relationship with Parker.

No other actors have boarded the Elvis biopic, but you can count on more casting information arriving in the coming months. Bas Luhrmann has brought in some of his frequent collaborators for the project, such as Craig Pearce writing the script, and Catherine Martin serving as production designer and costume designer. Warner Bros will release the picture worldwide.

No release date has been set for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic, but production is scheduled to begin early next year in Queensland, Australia. Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more updates on the project’s development, including what the official title will be.

In the meantime, scan through our 2019 release schedule to learn what movies are coming out later this year.

We're less than a year and a half away from hitting 2019, the year that the 1982 sci-fi classic Blade Runner took place. Needless to say that the world of Ridley Scott's cinematic adaptation of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep looks a lot different than our world, but there are a few similarities. OK, so we don't have androids or flying cars (yet), but the Blade Runner reality does share some of our pop culture. For example, evidently Elvis Presley is still quite popular in this reality, as he'll be seen this fall in Blade Runner 2049 for an extended period of time. According to Joel Weinshanker, an investor who is a majority owner in Elvis Presley Enterprises and the managing director of Graceland Holdings and Graceland Archives:

Today marks the 40th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, and the singer, often called the King of Rock and Roll, is still considered to be one of the most talented singers of the 20th century. Evidently his fame hasn't declined in the Blade Runner world either, because he was briefly spotted as a hologram in one of the Blade Runner 2049 trailers. While Joel Weinshanker didn't reveal the exact circumstances of Elvis' cameo to Variety, it doesn't sound like it will be one of the blink-and-you-miss-it kind. For those of you who didn't catch Elvis' quick appearance in the Blade Runner 2049 preview released this past May, check out the screenshot below.

Rather than bring back Elvis Presley as a Replicant duplicate, the rock and roll icon appears to be projected as a hologram at an entertainment venue that Ryan Gosling's character, LAPD Officer K, is investigating. Since this cameo is lasting more than a few seconds, I'm guessing that a fight will break out at this venue, and while K is defending himself from nefarious forces, hologram Elvis will stay in the background performing "Hound Dog" or one of his other hits.

Taking place three decades after the events of the original Blade Runner movie, Blade Runner 2049 will follow Ryan Gosling's K uncovering a dark secret that could spell the end of humanity. His journey will lead him to finding Harrison Ford's Rick Deckard, who was last seen leaving Los Angeles with Sean Young's Rachael. The sequel's main cast also includes Jared Leto, Robin Wright, Dave Buatista, Ana de Armas, Mackenzie Davis, Sylvia Hoeks, Barkad Abdi, David Dastmalchian and Edward James Olmos.

Blade Runner 2049 will be released in theaters on October 6. Don't forget to also look through our 2017 premiere guide to find out what other cinematic offerings are coming for the remainder of the year.

Few musicals have stood the test of time like Grease. The 1970s film about high school kids in the 1950s has made numerous songs standards today, and turned TV’s John Travolta into a bona fide movie star. But as with most movies, the transition to screen was a long one, and the movie could have looked quite a bit different than it eventually did. Travolta would have never had the chance to shine if Henry ‘The Fonz’ Winkler had wanted the role.

In a major piece inVanity Fair about the films transition from stage to screen, it’s revealed that a number of different actors were considered for key roles. It turns out that Paramount, the studio producing the film, wanted Henry Winkler to star as Danny rather than John Travolta. Winkler was something of an obvious choice, as he was already the star of Happy Days playing a very similar 1950s greaser character. Of course, the reason he would have worked turned out to be the reason that he turned the role down. Winkler didn’t want to be typecast. Probably a good move, as there’s only a limited number of 1950s teenagers to play.

Henry Winkler wasn’t the only significant change that could have happened. Although he may have been the most obvious. Elvis Presley was rumored at one point to be in the running for the role of Teen Angel. Ultimately, the role went to another 1950’s film star, Frankie Avalon. Elvis would eventually pass away during filming, which wouldn’t have necessarily caused filming problems as the Teen Angel role is not very large, but it would have made for a fairly odd, and possibly chilling, last role for the aged rocker.

Grease has become such an iconic film, (the greatest musical of the 20th century, according to Vanity Fair) that it’s difficult to even conceive of anybody else playing the key roles. Seeing the Fonz in place of John Travolta is an easy enough substitution to make visually, but Danny is a significantly different character, so seeing Winkler playing a guy who looked the same, but was actually very different would have been weird for audiences at the time. Also, could he sing?

Somehow, the film seemed to make all the right choices as the movie is viewed today as a classic. One way or another, there will be new actors playing those roles, as Fox is planning a new production of the musical this year. What’s your opinion of the original Grease, masterpiece or overrated fluff? Does "Tell Me More, Tell Me More" make you want to get up and dance, or put your fist through a wall?

When we think of actors, we often put them in many different categories of performance. It makes sense considering these men and women make a career out of encapsulating a slew of different characters. It’s common to see many actors go on to perform in the musical variety whether it be on stage or in recording. But, it is particularly special when we see the move from the other direction, and a successful move at that.

There are a number of musicians who have taken a stab at acting, whether it be in playing themselves on screen, or a different role. But there are few that do so successfully. Here we pay tribute to those musicians-turned-actors. While many of them could have stuck with the music industry entirely, these 11 musicians-turned-actors showed off an entirely new set of skills, and left us all immensely impressed.

Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake began acting with a pretty boy role in a Disney Channel Original movie around the same time his boy band NSYNC had taken off. But within time, the musician-turned-actor began taking more interesting and unexpected roles that would set him apart as an actual actor. The move towards actor came after the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction, when Timberlake was gaining a lot of negative media attention for his role in the incident. Afterwards, he began landing bigger roles in a few feature films including the direct-to-video movie Edison Force as well as a few appearances in popular films such as Alpha Dog and Southland Tales.

While Timberlake continued to produce music, especially in collaboration with other artists, his acting career started to take off when he settled down with his music career. Going from starring roles in Mike Myers’ The Love Guru and the Mike Meredith drama The Open Road, Timberlake soon landed the role of Sean Parker in the critically acclaimed Facebook-drama The Social Network. His acting chops truly began to shine, and on top of the continuing roles in comedy pictures the musician-turned-actor continues to shine in dramatic roles such as his character in Inside Llewyn Davis.

Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby still stands as one of the most popular musical acts of the 20th Century, but that even seems small compared to his popularity as an actor. Crosby is measured as the third most popular actor of all time based on ticket sales, behind Clark Gable and John Wayne. His most popular film White Christmas in 1954 was a monumental success commercially, but it wasn’t just Crosby’s popularity as a musician that was filling seats at the theater. The musician-turned-actor was a performer at heart, and it translated on screen just as much as it had off. Crosby made his film debut in The King of Jazz in 1930 and by 1945 he won an Academy Award for Best Actor in Going My Way.

Crosby would go on to gain even further critical acclaim, with Academy Award nominations for The Bells of St. Mary’s and The Country Girl, and a Golden Globe nomination for his role in Here Comes the Groom. He starred in seven Road to musical comedies with Bob Hope and actress Dorothy Lamour between 1940 and 1962, which made the trio an unstoppable commercially successful team. Crosby would appear in everything from cameos to Disney animated films to comedies. His acting career probably takes top as the most successful on this current list.

Will Smith

Though Will Smith is universally known for his acting resume, the star began his career as the MC of hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. The trio quickly rose to critical acclaim and won the first Grammy awarded in the Rap category in 1988. But, by 1990, Smith was nearly bankrupt, so he decided to sign on with NBC to build a sitcom around him. From The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the young star’s acting career took off.

Will Smith bounced from blockbuster to blockbuster, with films ranging from Bad Boys to Men in Black to Wild, Wild West. Smith soon became a blockbuster draw, and fans flocked to theaters to see his films. But the actor continued to hold critical acclaim as well, and was even nominated for Best Actor for his roles in Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness. He continues to spit out hit after hit, and though some of his movie choices as of late have been rocky, the actor is already set up for his big comic book debut as Deadshot in Suicide Squad.

David Bowie

David Bowie pretty much invented the idea of playing a character in pop music. But the beginnings of his acting career come before his music made an real commercial success. The musician started his acting career studying avant-garde theater and mime with his first landed role in a 1967 theatrical production of Pierrot in Turquoise. He followed up his theatrical debut with a brief film appearance and short, but his first major role portraying Thomas Jerome Newton in The Man Who Fell to Earth immediately generated critical acclaim. Bowie would then take the lead role in Just a Gigolo and the 1980 Broadway production of The Elephant Man. He was noted for his expressive performances, a quality often defining his musical performances as well.

Bowie’s acting career continued on with great strength, as his music career skyrocketed ahead as well. He would go on to play major roles in a number of genres ranging from supernatural to biopics. He is often most remembered for his role as the king of goblins in Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, but has also scored roles in Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ, David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, and even Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige.

Mark Wahlberg

It’s easy to forget that Mark Wahlberg started out as the frontman for Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. It seems that his acting career has been what takes center stage. But the musician-turned-actor made his mark in the early ‘90s with his debut album Music for the People. A couple years later, Wahlberg made his acting debut in the TV film The Substitute, and subsequently dropped the name Marky Mark. His big screen debut followed with Renaissance Man, and started gaining critical attention after his appearance alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in The Basketball Diaries.

His acting career blew up, with much critical praise from successful movies such as Boogie Nights, The Perfect Storm, Three Kings, The Italian Job and Four Brothers. His critical praise wouldn’t end there though, as the actor started to hone in on choice roles such as his Academy Award nominated supporting role in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed and The Fighter. There have been a few odd choices here and there for Wahlberg as of late, as he has been featured in a few comedies as well as a Transformers film, but overall, the successful actor is far from done filling in his already lengthy resume.

Queen Latifah

Another musician turned actor that’s acting career seems to now take center stage is Queen Latifah. Beginning her artistic career with beat boxing in the hip-hop group Ladies Fresh, Queen Latifah went on to make an important mark in the hip-hop industry by covering feminist topics. A few years after her first album, Latifah scored a starring role on a FOX sitcom which she also wrote and performed the music for. She began her film career with with many supporting roles, and would break out with the 1999 role of Thelma alongside Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie in The Bone Collector.

While The Bone Collector gained Queen Latifah critical acclaim, her commercial acclaim would come a few years later in the Academy Award-winning musical film Chicago. Latifah was even nominated for best supporting actress for the film. That then began her truly extensive acting career. Ranging from her role alongside Steve Martin in Bringing Down the House to her Golden Globe award-winning role in Life Support, Latifah has been the center of both critical and commercial hits.

Tom Waits

Tom Waits is predominately known for his work as a singer-songwriter and composer, but his performances on the big screen are nothing to scoff at. The man has talent. And whether or not he is at starring capacity in many of these features, his performance tends to shine through. First appearing in the 1978 film Paradise Alley, Waits had already been deep into his music career. But soon after, Waits married his screenwriter wife Kathleen Brennan, and began appearing in more movies in minor roles. He had also begun a relationship with Francis Ford Coppola after providing music for One from the Heart and the two continued collaboration with a number of Tom Waits cameos.

Waits spent some time on stage as well, but also continued to cameo in a number of large films. The musician turned actor continued to split his time between both the world of film and music, but his acting was increasingly becoming more impressive. Waits is best known for his supporting roles in Paradise Alley and Bram Stoker’s Dracula and my personal favorite, Wristcutters: A Love Story. He’s worked aside a slew of critically acclaimed actors ranging from Denzel Washington to Colin Farrell and Christopher Walken, and with every performance is distinctively impressive.

Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra saw a full and successful music career before he got into the acting game. His music career had taken a stall by the early 1950s, but was completely reborn when the musician-turned-actor won an Academy Award for his supporting role in From Here to Eternity. In his earlier filmography, he often appeared as himself, such as in the 1944 film Higher and Higher, 1945’s The House I Live In, and 1946’s Till the Clouds Roll By. After his Oscar win though, the legend took on more interesting and in depth roles, following up with another Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in The Man With The Golden Arm.

Sinatra’s film career didn’t let up either. The actor was filming a tiresome amount of movies, but continuing to gain more and more critical acclaim as the years went on. The Manchurian Candidate gained particular critical attention for his performance. Then, in 1963, Sinatra took home a Golden Globe for Best Actor for the comedy Come Blow Your Horn and continued to appear in a number of movies up through the ‘80s. His musical career didn’t stop either, as many of the films he worked on also featured many of his original songs, many of which won Academy Awards for Best Original Songs.

Jennifer Hudson

With a voice like Jennifer Hudson’s it almost doesn’t make sense that she’d go on to become such a successful actress as well. After rising to musical fame from her time spent on American Idol, Hudson quickly followed up with her film debut in the musical drama Dreamgirls. The film gave Hudson the opportunity to not only show off her insane musical chops, but also featured a critically acclaimed performance from the actress that won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe. Hudson’s acting career is probably one of the youngest on this list, but the actress resonates impressive talent.

Hudson followed Dreamgirls with another impressive performance in The Secret Life of Bees alongside other musicians turned actors, Queen Latifah and Alicia Keys. She’d go on to boast another outstanding performance in Winnie Mandela, all while continuing to top the charts with her singing career. Hudson continues to stack up her acting resume with Black Nativity, Lullaby and is currently filming the upcoming Spike Lee film Chiraq.

Elvis Presley

The King of Rock and Roll was no stranger to the big screen. Just a couple years after his musical career began, Elvis Presley made his film debut in the 1956 Western Love Me Tender. A couple years later, Presley was drafted, and upon his return, dedicated his time to producing some of his most commercially recognized music. But, for the majority of the 60s, Presley decided to devote his time to making Hollywood movies. His musical comedies were commercial successes, and though Presley tried to move toward more serious roles with Flaming Star and Wild in the Country which saw more dramatic performances from the musician-turned-actor, he tended to stick with his successful formula.

The King started off strong with impressive performances in Jailhouse Rock and King Creole, but as his films started to gain easy commercial success, many started to be made more cheaply to increase overall profit. Presley starred alongside a number of established actors at the time including Walter Matthau, Mary Tyler Moore, Barbara Stanwyck, Charles Bronson and more. He also worked with young Kurt Russell in the actor’s screen debut in 1963’s It Happened at the World’s Fair. Though Presley’s commercially successful films were critically panned throughout, his early debuts featured notable performances.

Madonna

One of the biggest pop stars of all-time also happens to be an incredibly impressive actor. Madonna, is, and always will be, predominately known for her music career as the Queen of Pop, but the performer skill-set is anything but limited to that category. Madonna started her artistic career as a modern dancer, and soon went on to release her debut album and commercially successful hits. Madonna’s filmography begins in the early 80s with the oddball indie film A Certain Sacrifice which the singer was not particularly happy with the turnout. But from there Madonna went on to be featured in a variety of different films that were more often than not panned by critics, but by the ‘90s her acting saw a huge improvement.

Madonna’s starring role in Warren Beatty’s 1990 film Dick Tracy took in positive reviews, as well as her role in A League of Their Own. She took on roles in a range of smaller films as well including Blue in the Face, Four Rooms and Spike Lee’s Girl 6. But it was Eva Peron’s Evita adaptation that would show how truly talented Madonna had become as an actress. The performance gained the major pop star a Golden Globe for Best Actress. Madonna definitely had her up-and-downs, with arguably more negative reviews than positive, but for her few strong performances, they shone extra bright.

When it comes to the annals of biographical and quasi-biographical films, topics centering on the infamous ex-President, Richard Nixon is not exactly uncharted territory. However, the upcoming film, Elvis & Nixon will have something that all the other Nixons don’t have: Kevin Spacey. Now, the very first image has arrived of the House of Cards star as the embattled 37th Commander in Chief has arrived online, and from the look of things, he appears to be armed…with a finger gun!

In an exclusive release by The Hollywood Reporter, we see a scene set in the Oval Office with Kevin Spacey’s grizzled and perpetually aggravated President RIchard Nixon sitting across a coffee table with an aged, bell-bottom rocking Elvis Presley - played by a heavily made-up Michael Shannon. As evidenced, the film will focus on the secret meeting between Elvis and Nixon which took place on December 21, 1970 in a move allegedly prompted by Nixon to have Elvis help reshape the President’s image among the young people of America, from whom he was becoming increasingly alienated. That's a rather hilarious idea in its own right, so we can probably conjecture a comedic twist will be featured in the film.

As we can see in the photo, Spacey’s Nixon looks to be brandishing a finger gun at Shannon's stern-looking Presley to show the seminal singer that he is, indeed, a straight shooter. But while Nixon’s agenda is to acquire some help relating to the changing youth culture, it's Elvis’ aim to nab an FBI badge. – You know, just because. For comparison purposes, you can see an actual image of the former president with the rock n roll legend:

The 1970 setting of the film presents a time when culture was experiencing an uprooting, as the poppy, twist-happy, "yeah, yeah, yeah" optimism of early 1960’s had transformed into a gritty bleakness that manifested itself in music and, most prominently, in the world of cinema - where realistic, pessimism-infused dramas like The Godfather and Chinatown would reign until Star Wars came around in 1977 and changed the landscape. However, don’t look for this film to be down in the dumps.

While the film’s director, Liza Johnson is not particularly known for comedic romps, the film carries a historically quixotic plot which innately lends itself to some level of comedic absurdity (that thing about Elvis wanting an FBI badge isn't a joke). Plus, with names of lively talent like Johnny Knoxville, Colin Hanks, Sky Ferreira, Alex Pettyfer and Evan Peters listed in the primary cast, Elvis & Nixon will likely focus on the clearly humorous idea that an out-of-touch Richard Nixon, embroiled in the midst of the Vietnam War, with an emerging generation of counter-culture and mere months after the Kent State shootings would take THIS method of learning to be "down with the young people."

Interestingly enough, this is not the first film to focus on this infamous meeting between the King of Rock and Roll and the King of Audio Tape. The 1997 made-for-TV film Elvis Meets Nixon (starring Rick Peters and Bob Gunton) actually tackled the same scenario, laced with the kind of off-the-wall silliness one would expect from a movie about Elvis trying to join (ironically enough,) the F.B.I.’s precursor to the D.E.A., the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Likewise, Elvis & Nixon will probably embrace the absurd in a similar way - albeit with a WAY better cast.

Elvis & Nixon looks to account for missing box-office earnings with a "Checkers" speech when it comes out later this year.

Earlier this week, a woman walked onto the stage at the 9th annual Andy Kaufman Awards and dropped every single jaw in the room by announcing a) she is Andy Kaufman’s daughter and b) the legendary comedian is still alive and kicking. Within hours, news of the utterly bizarre appearance was widely circulated on the Internet. Not long after that, video even emerged, as well as rumors about the alleged daughter’s real identity.

I’m pretty confident the entire stunt was one elaborate hoax. More than that, I’m extremely confident Kaufman himself would have loved it. His life was a long series of wacky shenanigans, many of which were designed merely to screw with people’s heads. His first appearance on Saturday Night Live is a great example, as is his legendary fight with Jerry Lawler on Letterman. Because of that crazed spirit and the strange circumstances surrounding his death, we’re probably in for a Kaufman-related conspiracy every half decade or so for the rest of our lives.

He’s not the only dead celebrity who people have been convinced was very much alive, though. History is filled with plenty of examples of people who won’t go peacefully into the grave. Thanks to this latest bout of Kaufman whispers, now seems like as good of a time as ever to explore some of these crazy rumors. Here are seven famous faces who some think may not have died when we initially suspected.

Tupac Shakur

Tupac Shakur was shot in a drive-by on Las Vegas Boulevard following a heavyweight boxing match between Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon on September 13, 1996. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of witnesses heard the gunshots and saw a still unidentified white Cadillac speed away. The rapper was hit several times amidst the haze of bullets, and seven days later, he died at the hospital. The case is officially unsolved, but Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chuck Philips pointed to problems between Compton gangs as the motive behind his murder in what many consider to be the foremost analysis on the subject.

So, why the hell do people think he’s still alive? Well, Tupac recorded a wealth of material prior to his death. Most of it was unreleased and has since slowly hit the market in various forms. His manager, Suge Knight, who was in the car at the time and was grazed by a bullet, has made several comments over the years that seem to imply Tupac is still alive, and there have been several pictures/ videos that emerged after his death showing the rapper wearing shoes that weren’t released until later. Beyond that, there’s a bunch of complicated nonsense about number patterns and Pac changing his name to Makaveli not long before the supposed murder.

Ruling: Tupac is almost certainly dead, but at least he has a hologram.

Elvis Presley

Poor Elvis spent most of the mid-1970s slowly dying. Taking a zoo of prescription drugs, touring relentlessly, gaining weight and stressing out over failed relationships, he put his body through utter hell until it finally gave up in the summer of 1977. As a selfish goodbye present, the King’s cousin took a picture of his corpse and sold it to The National Enquirer. It still holds the record for the highest selling edition of all-time, but apparently, Presley’s death picture wasn’t enough to convince his legion of fans that he had actually kicked the bucket.

Elvis sightings began almost immediately after the musician was laid to rest. Someone tried to dig up his body to investigate, and scores of people began writing in to their local newspapers and various tabloids that they’d seen the legend in the strangest places. Out of the brouhaha came societies dedicated to discussing sightings and even a street called Elvis Lives Lane in Ottawa. The fervor gets a little louder at times, but it’s never completely quieted since 1977, nor will it for decades to come.

Ruling: The man was a drug addict with horrible eating habits and extravagant taste. He needed a healthy supply of money and peanut butter and banana sandwiches to live, all of which he had readily available at Graceland. There was no reason for him to fake his own death and even less of a reason for him to stay hidden for decades.

DB Cooper

On November 24, 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper passed a note to a flight attendant informing her that he had a bomb in his possession. He wanted the airline a) to pay him $200,000 in unmarked bills and b) to procure him four parachutes. His demands were later met, and following a pickup of the money, and a refueling stop, he ordered the plane back in the air. At some point, probably over Washington, Cooper strapped on his parachute and jumped out of the plane and into history. He was never seen again.

To this day, the Cooper case remains the only unsolved skyjacking in the history of the United States. A small portion of the ransom money was discovered in a river several years later, but how it could have possibly gotten there is unclear. In the time since, dozens of possible suspects have been investigated, books have been written and wild theories have been floated, none of which explain who the hijacker was and whether or not he perished during the getaway skydive.

Ruling: There is probably a seventy percent chance Cooper died while parachuting and a thirty percent chance he landed and got away with some of the money. For his sake, I hope it was the latter. Of all the reasons to disappear, a badass robbery is definitely near the top of the list.

Jim Morrison

Conspiracies about whether or not people actually died often emerge when those involved can’t really get their story straight concerning what happened. Such was the case with Jim Morrison who died of “natural causes” in Paris in 1971. Pamela Courson, longtime girlfriend of the Doors frontman, has given multiple accounts of what happened, but most seem to involve him coughing up blood and overdosing in a bathtub on heroin that he may have thought was cocaine. Others close to the singer have claimed the actual OD took place at a nightclub, and best of all, the Doors manager Danny Sugerman claimed in his book that the idea of Morrison faking his own death wasn’t “as far fetched as it might seem”, whatever the hell that means.

Because Morrison had gained weight and grown a beard for certain periods during his last few years, some fans are convinced he could have slipped off in the night without the general public knowing any different. If he did, that would explain all the inconsistencies with the stories on the ground and all the times people have supposedly seen the Lizard King in the years since.

Ruling: Like so many people on this list, there aren’t many reasons why Morrison would want to stay missing at this point. He could get the Doors back together and make a killing on a world tour. I mean seriously. With all due respect to Lady Gaga, how much more money would people pay to see a suddenly alive Jim Morrison? Plus, I’m not really concerned with the people on the ground having different stories because many of them were drug addicts at the time with horrible reasoning skills and memories.

Jimmy Hoffa

Hoffa was a union official for the Teamsters that was heavily involved with the mafia. He went for a meeting outside the Machus Red Fox in the summer of 1975, and he hasn’t been seen since. At the time, many thought Hoffa may have skipped out on his life in order to avoid conflicts over his attempts to regain power with the unions in Detroit. Then again, a whole lot more thought he was straight up murdered for the exact same reasons. Either way, Hoffa hasn’t been seen since, and every few years, the government digs somewhere new to try and find his body.

The reasons behind Hoffa’s absence are quite clear. He had more enemies than everyone else on this list put together, and many of his had a whole lot of power, whether they were involved with the mob or were in the White House. Seriously, he once sued Richard Nixon. If he did escape, he did so at exactly the right time. If he didn’t, he’s encased in cement somewhere within two hundred miles of Detroit and will probably never be found.

Ruling: If Hoffa were still alive today, he would be one hundred-years-old. If he lived a healthy, stress free live, the odds are against him making it that long, but I think the chances of him simply disappearing are slim to none. That man craved attention like most of us do water. He needed power and the spotlight, two things people can’t get if they’re hiding out in Mexico. Plus, he was legally allowed to hold office again after 1980; so, he would have wanted to celebrate that milestone.

Andy Kaufman

Prior to Andy Kaufman’s death of lung cancer in 1984, the comedian told many close friends that he was interested in faking his death. Such a wild scheme would be greeted by confusion or arguments if uttered by most people, but for Andy, that was probably the most normal thing that ever came out of his mouth. During his network television comedy special, he intentionally screwed with the picture to make people watching at home think there was something wrong with their televisions. His entire life was meant to be a jolt to the audience’s system; so, why not make his death be the same thing?

So rampant are the rumors that Kaufman faked his own death that his very underrated biopic Man On The Moon actually leaves the question open to debate. In addition, a ton of people have claimed they’ve seen the comedian over the years, and even his own brother argued he got a mysterious letter from the comedian a few years back. Given all that, it’s really not a surprise everyone has been so engrossed in the story of his supposed daughter who recently claimed he’s still alive.

Ruling: That woman is almost definitely an actress, and Kaufman almost definitely died of lung cancer. Unlike most of the people on this list, he would have the willpower to wait out his return for a long time, but three decades is just absurd. He would have chosen like the ten year mark. That being said, I would buy him being alive a whole lot faster than the musicians.

Amelia Earhart

There’s no death hoax here. Earhart definitely didn’t intentionally skip town in order to live in seclusion, but there are quite a few researchers out there who believe the noted aviatrix didn’t die when her plane went down on July 2, 1937. In fact, many of them have a very similar theory as to what happened: she ran out of fuel and was able to crash land near Gardner Island, where she survived for some number of years.

Makeshift tools have been found in roughly the right location, and supposedly some pieces of metal discovered are similar to what would have been in the legendary woman’s aircraft. When the other option is simply the unknown, there are many who prefer that more tangible explanation for what happened after the crash, but despite about a dozen research missions to the area, not enough conclusive evidence has ever been discovered to say Earhart definitely survived her crash.

Ruling: People were so invested in Earhart getting home safely that there’s almost no way she didn’t really crash. Considering plane accidents aren’t exactly like falling off a trampoline, I think it’s likely she went into the ocean and died, but I certainly think it’s possible she carved out a few good years Cast Away style. She was a scrappy lady. You can tell by the goofy looks on her face in every picture she ever took.

Given all the success Lil Wayne has had over the past thirteen years, it’s strange to think he’d celebrate a song he merely guested on landing at #82 on the Billboard Hot 100, but that’s exactly what Weezy is doing thanks the larger milestone the charting represents. Between 1958 and 2003, Elvis Presley landed 108 entries on the Hot 100. Thanks to the Game’s “Celebration”, which Wayne features on, the rapper now has 109.

According to MTV, the majority of Weezy’s chart appearances were in the form of featured slots on other artists’ songs. All of the times Presley charted were for work he was the lead on, but considering there’s a separate record he still holds for that, it’s pointless to get worked up about it. Plus, that would undermine Wayne’s incredible accomplishment. It’s crazy that in a little over a decade he’s been a part of this many songs people have loved.

There’s no telling how high the thirty-year-old might push this figure before he’s down, but it would be a real shock if he didn’t wind up topping 200. He’s got his hand in too many cookie jars and his influence over too many promising careers not to find himself in the right place more times in the future, and that's to say nothing of his own critically acclaimed work.

Less than a month after the 34th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley comes the announcement that The King will finally get his big screen biopic. The Hollywood Reporter published a story naming John Scheinfeld as director for Fame & Fortune, based on the 2007 biography Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business by former Elvis bodyguard Sonny West and biographer Marshall Terrill. The film is aiming for a 2012 release, effectively then the 35th anniversary of the singer’s death. Scheinfeld has previously written and directed The U.S. vs. John Lennon and Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him?).

It is confounding as to why it has taken this long for a biopic about Elvis to make it to theaters. I’ve seen a slew of the TV movies, including John Carpenter’s Elvis, but I’m looking forward to The King’s life getting the same major Hollywood treatment as that of Ray Charles and Johnny Cash; all of them legends in their own right. They really couldn’t f gotten a better director for this project. In addition to writing and directing the aforementioned explorations of the lives of John Lennon and Harry Nilsson, Scheinfeld has helmed projects for television spotlighting singers from Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin to Andy Williams and Brian Wilson. This is a guy who has spent his entire career studying the work of some of the greatest musical talents in history.

Having grown up in a family of diehard Elvis fans, my mother and grandmother particularly, I’ve read several biographies on the man. It’s interesting to me that of all the literature out there on Presley, they chose to adapt one of Sonny West’s biographies. Sonny is regarded as a traitor by many Elvis fans. Prior to Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business, West released a book called Elvis, What Happened? co-written with his cousin Red West. This book, released in the 70s prior to The King’s death, exposed the darker, unflattering side of Elvis’ life. Elvis himself actually read the book and was devastated by it. And while Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business is much more a loving tribute to their friendship, fans to this day are angry at West for his perceived betrayal.

But maybe a mix of genuine admiration and insight into his faults is exactly what a great Elvis biopic needs. Looking back on films like Ray and Walk the Line, it is clear that what makes them work are the trials and tribulations through which we watch these legends battle. Basing the script on the work of someone privy to both the public and private face of The King seems a wise, calculated move.

After fifty-five years and more than a few imposters, the woman in Elvis Presley’s most famous photograph has finally been identified. She’s seventy-five year old Barbara Gray, now a retired real estate manager but at the time a young, gorgeous free spirit who once fought Zsa Zsa Gabor and caroused with Pat Boone. She’s lived a wild life filled with four marriages and scores of celebrity encounters, but on that fateful day when she touched tongues with the King, she was just another charmed girl won over by Presley as he was rising to fame.

The year was 1956, and Elvis Presley was far from a household name. Gray, already a divorced mother, was drinking in a bar with a few of her friends when the ladies started talking about this handsome musician who was in town. Gray had no idea who he was, but after a few drinks, she accepted a dare to call his hotel room. The two ended up chatting for half an hour, and Presley promised to send a car for her in the morning. She thought he was bluffing, but two members of Elvis’ entourage showed up as promised. They escorted her to a coffee shop where the musician asked her if she wanted a beer. She declined, much to Presley’s pleasure. He hated women who drank, smoked or had sex with anyone that wasn’t him.

Later, they made their way to the Mosque Theater in Richmond Virginia where just before his concert began, Elvis and Gray playfully touched tongues as photographer Alfred Wertheimer took the picture of his life. Take a look at the image below…

Shortly after the concert, Elvis took his new lady friend into a train compartment and briefly felt her up. There was a knock on the door, and he was told he needed to leave. The two parted ways, never to speak again, leaving one brilliant photograph as the only evidence of their momentary tryst.

After coming forward, Barbara Gray renounced all monetary rights to the picture she co-created. She’s only seeking credit and for her name to be added to the image so many have marveled at.

To read Barbara Gray’s extremely detailed account, I encourage you to head over to Vanity Fair.