Baz Lurhmann's Elvis Movie Image Gives New Look At Austin Butler's King
A newly released image of Baz Luhrmann's upcoming Elvis biopic shows off Austin Butler as the titular King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley. The film has been in development since 2014, but no real strides were made until 2019, when Tom Hanks was cast as Colonel Tom Parker, Presley's manager. The list of names in the running for the lead role then included Ansel Elgort, Harry Styles, and Miles Teller, with Butler eventually winning out against his more experienced competitors.
Butler, whose previous roles include Tex Watson in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood and Jack in Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die, will be taking centerstage for the first time in his career and performing alongside a few of Luhrmann's regular collaborators, including Richard Roxburgh. Filming for Elvis began in January 2020, but was halted when Hanks and his wife Rita tested positive for COVID in March. It resumed that same September with a slightly changed cast, due to the delay resulting in scheduling conflicts. Elvis is scheduled for theatrical release in June and will come to HBO Max 45 days after hitting cinemas.
While he may not have a great deal of experience as the leading man, Butler certainly looks the part, as a new Elvis image released by the Cannes Film Festival shows. The image displays Butler with the trademark hairstyle and acoustic guitar that made Presley so recognizable in his early years. As part of the same press release, it is revealed that Elvis will have its world premiere at the prestigious festival in May. Check out the original tweet below:
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With a lead that looks the spitting image of Presley and a strong cast to back him up, Elvis may turn out to be a financial hit, similar to the Red Curtain trilogy that made Luhrmann's early directing career so successful. However, the Australian filmmaker's work hasn't graced the big screen since his polarizing 2013 adaptation of The Great Gatsby, which was well-received by audiences and won two Academy Awards, but was less popular with some critics. He has had more critical success in television, where his Netflix original series The Get Down was Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes for both of its seasons, despite its early cancellation.
For now, all looks pretty set for Elvis to be another classic Lurhmann picture. From the trailers released so far, it seems to have the same hyper-stylized approach that made Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet such fan-favorites, and features the bombastic musical score, bright color palette, and theatrical direction that makes Luhrmann's work so recognizable. Whether this translates to positive critical scores is still uncertain, but it certainly looks like a good time.
Source: Cannes