Before we’ve even had a chance to rid our mouths of the aftertaste left by Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks at his career-worst, A24 has announced its own biopic about the King of Rock from the perspective of wife Priscilla Presley, and helmed by none other than writer/director Sofia Coppola (Lost In Translation, The Bling Ring, The Beguiled).
An adaptation of the 1985 best-selling memoir Elvis and Me written by Priscilla Presley, A24 and Coppola’s upcoming project will star Australia’s Jacob Elordi (Euphoria) as Elvis himself opposite fellow HBO talent Cailee Spaeny (Mare of Easttown, Bad Times at the El Royale) as the iconic singer’s better half.
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“Insiders say Sofia Coppola had been eyeing this film for some time as her follow-up to On The Rocks and began putting the pieces together to the film off the ground by this fall,” reveals Justin Kroll of Deadline.
“While she met with a number of actors for the Elvis role – with Jacob Elordi ultimately landing the highly coveted role – Cailee Spaeny has been her top choice from Day 1 for the role of Priscilla.”
By all accounts, this has also been something on the radar for Elordi, who previously expressed how an old interview with Elvis struck him as being deeply relatable to his own Hollywood experiences.
“He was talking, and he was so charming to the press, but you could see in his eyes that he was just tired,” said Jacob Elordi.
“He’s like, ‘I’m tired, man. I only get four, five hours of sleep, I’m tired.’ That’s really sad to me, because it’s a different period of time and it’s someone who’s gone 10 billion times anything I’ve experienced, but the same kind of feeling.”
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Sofia Coppola will reportedly re-team with a handful of longtime collaborators including:
- Cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd
- Costume designer Stacey Battat
- Editor Sarah Flack
- Production designer Tamara Deverell
Coppola will also be producing alongside Youree Henley, Lorenzo Mieli of The Apartment, a Fremantle Company, and American Zoetrope; with financing from both The Apartment and Sony’s Stage 6 Films. Production is scheduled to kick off later this year in Toronto – gotta get those tax incentives – meaning we shouldn’t expect to see anything until later 2023/early 2024.
Keep an eye out for A24’s Priscilla starring Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny.
