Elvis (2022 film)
Elvis is a 2022 epic[8] biographical drama film co-produced and directed by Baz Luhrmann, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner. It chronicles the life of the American rock and roll singer and actor Elvis Presley under the management of Colonel Tom Parker. It stars Austin Butler and Tom Hanks as Presley and Parker, respectively, with Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Luke Bracey in supporting roles.
Elvis
- Baz Luhrmann[a]
- Sam Bromell
- Craig Pearce
- Jeremy Doner
- Baz Luhrmann
- Jeremy Doner
- Baz Luhrmann
- Catherine Martin
- Gail Berman
- Patrick McCormick
- Schuyler Weiss
Elliott Wheeler[1]
- Bazmark Films
- The Jackal Group
- Warner Bros. Pictures (United States and Australia)[2]
- Universal Pictures (Australia)[3]
- May 25, 2022 (Cannes)
- June 23, 2022 (Australia)
- June 24, 2022 (United States)
159 minutes[4]
- United States
- Australia
English
A biographical film about Elvis Presley was first announced in
2014, with Luhrmann set to direct, but the project languished in development hell until early 2019, when Hanks joined the film. Butler was cast in the title role that July, beating out several other actors including Miles Teller and Harry Styles. Filming began in Australia in January 2020 but was put on hiatus in March after Hanks tested positive for COVID-19 at the onset of the pandemic. Production resumed in September, wrapping in March 2021.
Elvis premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 25, 2022, and was released in Australia on June 23 and in the United States on June 24, by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was a commercial success, grossing over $288 million worldwide against an $85 million budget. It also received generally positive reviews from critics, with Butler's performance garnering widespread acclaim alongside Luhrmann's direction, the cinematography, costume design, production design, and musical sequences also receiving praise, though the script, 160-minute runtime, and Hanks' performance polarized critics. The American Film Institute named Elvis one of the top-ten films of 2022. Elvis received eight nominations at the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Butler, among numerous other accolades. A stage adaptation, with Luhrmann attached as a producer, is in development.[9]
Plot[edit]
On January 20, 1997, Colonel Tom Parker, former manager of Elvis Presley, has a heart attack and is rushed to a hospital in Las Vegas. Nursing a gambling addiction that has left him destitute, Parker recounts the story of how he first met "The King of Rock 'n' Roll."
Raised mostly by his doting mother Gladys, Elvis spends his childhood in the poorest parts of Tupelo, Mississippi, finding solace in music and the comic book adventures of Captain Marvel Jr. After moving with his parents to Memphis, he is ridiculed by his peers due to his fascination with the African-American music of Beale Street. Parker, at the time a carnival "huckster," manages country singer Hank Snow but realizes Elvis' crossover potential when he hears "That's All Right," initially assuming that the artist is black. That night, after witnessing his intense sex appeal at a "Louisiana Hayride" performance, Parker invites Elvis to accompany him on a tour and convinces Elvis to let him take control of his career, which begins Elvis' meteoric ascent: he moves from Sun Records to RCA Records, his father Vernon is appointed as business manager of Elvis Presley Enterprises, and the family is lifted out of poverty.
The regional public is divided in their view of the singer. Feeling that Elvis' music will corrupt white children and stoke racial hostility, segregationist Southern Democrat Mississippi Senator James Eastland calls Parker to an informal hearing and probes his mysterious past. When Elvis flouts the authorities' warnings and performs sexually charged dance moves at a concert, he faces legal trouble. Parker persuades the government to draft Elvis into the U.S. Army instead of penalizing him. Elvis returns from basic training only to be devastated upon discovering his mother's alcohol-induced death. During his military service in West Germany, Elvis meets 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, the teenage daughter of a United States Air Force pilot. After his discharge, he embarks on a film career and later marries Priscilla.
As the popular culture of the 1960s passes Elvis by, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 devastate him. Although he wants to become more politically outspoken in his music, Parker has booked a family-friendly Christmas television special where he will only perform frivolous feel-good songs. Elvis works with Steve Binder to re-imagine the special, and his performance choices, including the closing song "If I Can Dream," incorporates not only a review of his past songs but also political commentary. Infuriated corporate sponsors threaten litigation, while Parker believes Elvis has been "brainwashed by hippies." Nevertheless, the show is highly successful.
Afterward, Elvis headlines at the largest showroom in Las Vegas, the International Hotel, and resumes concert tours. Parker's control of Elvis' life tightens as he refuses Elvis' request for a world tour. Motivated by gambling debts, Parker manipulates Elvis into signing a contract for a five-year Las Vegas casino residency. Elvis' problematic behavior and prescription drug addiction overtakes him, and a despondent Priscilla divorces him on his 38th birthday, taking their daughter Lisa Marie with her. After discovering that Parker cannot leave the country because he is a stateless illegal immigrant, Elvis attempts to fire him. Parker subsequently informs Vernon that the family owes him an $8.5 million debt accumulated over the years and convinces Elvis of their symbiotic relationship; though the pair rarely see each other afterward, Parker continues as his manager.
Increasingly exhausted after a continuously rigorous schedule of shows, Elvis expresses to Priscilla his fear of being forgotten after death, as he believes he has achieved nothing worthwhile. Parker finishes his recollection, remembering one of Elvis' final shows on June 21, 1977. In Rapid City, South Dakota,[10] an obese and pale Elvis, unable to stand up, sings "Unchained Melody" and ends the performance to thunderous applause. Elvis dies a couple of months later on August 16, 1977; in Parker's estimation, what really killed Elvis was neither his heart attack nor drug-related suicide as some believe, but rather his love for his fans. At the same time, Parker also dies impoverished and alone in the hospital, having gambled away the rest of his ill-gotten fortune.
A closing statement additionally explains that a series of lawsuits in the 1980s exposed Parker's financial abuse of Elvis, with Parker settling out of court and cutting his ties to the Presley estate after failing to claim immunity as a stateless person. Elvis Presley remains the best-selling solo artist in history, beloved by millions worldwide even decades after his death.
Marketing[edit]
The first three-minute trailer for the film premiered during NBC's live coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics on February 17, 2022, and was uploaded online the same day.[45][46][47] Nick Relly of Rolling Stone stated "The trailer opens with a foreboding voiceover from Hanks's Parker, in which he acknowledges that he is considered the "villain of this here story" — owing to the widespread belief that Parker's interest in Elvis was mainly financially motivated. From there, we're given a look at some of Elvis' most electrifying early performances, with Butler bearing an uncanny resemblance to the King himself."[48] Sasha Urban of Variety and Rania Aniftos of Billboard praised Butler's performance as he "uncannily resembled Presley".[49][50] The second trailer premiered online on May 23, 2022, two days before the film's world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.[51] James White of Empire stated "With typical Luhrmann swagger and style, this could be a good fit of filmmaker and subject".[52] Screen Rant-based Adam Bentz stated "The trailer highlights how the biopic spans a period of over twenty years and chronicles both the singer's opulent rise to stardom and eventual fall from grace."[53]
NME magazine dedicated a standalone free-print issue of 36 pages, covering Presley's life, interviews with Butler, Luhrmann and other cast members.[54] A special Elvis-inspired shoot with artists Wallice and Master Peace, musical guide to 10 tracks from Presley and the city of Memphis and the magazine's interview with Presley in 1960 (from the archives).[55] The magazine issues were made available digitally and through physical prints in stores on June 16, 2022.[55] An ABC special, Exclusively Elvis: A Special Edition of 20/20, featuring a look at Presley's real-life and the making of the film, aired on June 21, 2022, to promote the film.[56] AMC Theatres, in collaboration with Feverup, announced a pre-sale special where viewers could purchase tickets to the film for $10.99.[57] The final trailer was released online on June 22, 2022.[58]
Release[edit]
Elvis was released in cinemas in Australia on June 23, 2022, and in the United States on June 24, by Warner Bros. Pictures.[59] It was previously scheduled to be released on October 1, 2021,[60] before being delayed to November 5, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[61] and later to June 3, 2022.[62] The film was not listed as part of the December 2020 announcement by Warner Bros. Pictures to debut its entire 2021 slate concurrently in movie theatres and on HBO Max, before the film was officially pushed to 2022.[63]
The film became eligible to be made available on HBO Max and premium video on demand (PVOD) on August 8, 2022, 45 days after its theatrical release, under a plan announced by WarnerMedia in 2021.[64] However, IndieWire reported shortly before that date that the merged Warner Bros. Discovery had decided to instead release Elvis solely to PVOD on August 9 and to Blu-ray/DVD on September 13 with HBO Max availability likely to follow in the fall.[65] The film became available for streaming exclusively on HBO Max on September 2, followed by the HBO network premiere on September 3.
The film had its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on May 25, 2022, where it received a twelve-minute standing ovation from the audience, the longest for an Australian film at the festival and tying with Hirokazu Kore-eda's Broker for the longest overall.[66][67][68] It also opened the Guadalajara International Film Festival in Mexico on June 10[69] and at the Sydney Film Festival in Australia on June 15.[70]
Luhrmann said in June 2022 that a four-hour cut exists, containing scenes of Presley with his first girlfriend, Dixie, and his meeting with President Richard Nixon in 1970.[71] Following the film's reception of its eight Oscar nominations, Warner Bros. announced its return to theaters for a limited engagement starting on January 27, 2023.[72]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Elvis grossed $151 million in the United States and Canada, and $137.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $288.7 million.[2][7]
In the United States and Canada, Elvis was released alongside The Black Phone, and was projected to gross $25–30 million from 3,906 theaters in its opening weekend.[6][73] It made $12.7 million on its first day, including $3.5 million from Thursday night previews.[74][75][76] It went on to debut to $31.2 million, beating out holdover Top Gun: Maverick for first place atop the box office. According to PostTrak, 31% of the opening weekend audiences was over the age of 55, with 48% being over 45, while women over 25 (the most hesitant to return to theaters amid the pandemic) made up 45%. The main reasons given for seeing the film were the subject matter (49%) and Hanks (25%).[77] In its second weekend the film made $18.5 million (a drop of 40.9%), and $22.7 million over the four-day Independence Day weekend, finishing third.[78][79] In its third weekend the film made $11.2 million, finishing in fourth.[80]
Outside the US and Canada, the film made $20 million from 50 markets in its first international weekend.[81] In its second weekend, the film passed the $100 million worldwide threshold after adding $15.7 million (a drop of 28%) to its total.[82] In its third weekend, it performed well against newcomer Thor: Love and Thunder internationally, grossing $8.7 million (a drop of 44%).[83] It crossed the $200 million worldwide mark in its fifth weekend. As of August 24, 2022, the film's largest markets include the UK ($29.47 million), Australia ($22.5 million), France ($8.3 million), Mexico ($7.4 million), Japan ($5.2 million), and Germany ($6.01 million).[84]
Audience viewership[edit]
By March 25, 2023, the film had been streamed on HBO Max in 9 million households in the United States according to Samba TV, including 3.1 million since the Oscar nomination announcements on January 24, the highest total of any Best Picture nominee that year.[85] According to The NUmbers, the movie's video release, namely the DVD and Blu-Ray versions has sold almost 750,000 copies bringing a tally of $14,263,700 which covers the period from its release in October 2022 till May 2023, the last week for which video sales in the US are available at the time of writing (January 2024).
Critical response[edit]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 77% of 398 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "The standard rock biopic formula gets all shook up in Elvis, with Baz Luhrmann's dazzling energy and style perfectly complemented by Austin Butler's outstanding lead performance."[86] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 64 out of 100, based on 60 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[87] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak gave the film an 88% overall positive score, with 72% saying they would definitely recommend it.[77]
Butler's portrayal of Presley was widely acclaimed. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times described Butler as "a decent physical match for Elvis and a better one vocally."[88] David Rooney wrote for The Hollywood Reporter that Butler "captures the tragic paradox of a phenomenal success story who clings tenaciously to the American Dream even as it keeps crumbling in his hands."[89] Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent wrote that he "makes a compelling argument for the power of Elvis, at a time when the musician's arguably lost a little of his cultural cachet."[90][91]
On the film itself, Robbie Collin of The Telegraph gave it four out of five stars, calling it "a bright and splashy jukebox epic," but that "it veers in and out of fashion on a scene-by-scene basis: it's the most impeccably styled and blaringly gaudy thing you'll see all year, and all the more fun for it."[92] Kevin Maher of The Times called it Luhrmann's "best film since Romeo + Juliet ... The power in the musical numbers is drawn from Butler's turn but also from Luhrmann, who edits with the kind of frenetic rhythms that are almost impossible to resist (feet will tap) ... They are the spine-tingling highlights that make the entire project a must-see movie."[93][94] Jim Vejvoda of IGN called it "a dizzying and at times even overwhelming chronicle of the rock icon."[95] Owen Gleiberman of Variety called it "A fizzy, delirious, impishly energized, compulsively watchable 2-hour-and-39-minute fever dream – a spangly pinwheel of a movie that converts the Elvis saga we all carry around in our heads into a lavishly staged biopic-as-pop-opera."[96] Joshua Rothkopf wrote for Entertainment Weekly that it "delivers the icon like never before" and that Luhrmann recaptured "his Moulin Rouge! mojo with a hip-swiveling profile loaded with risk and reward." He went on to praise Butler's performance, saying that he "...stares down the lens and melts it."[97]
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times, while praising the visuals and Butler's performance, felt mixed about the film being told from Colonel Tom Parker's perspective, saying "I would have loved to have listened in on Luhrmann and Hanks's conversations about their ideas for the character; if nothing else, it might have explained what in the world they were after here. I honestly haven't a clue, although the image of Sydney Greenstreet looming menacingly in The Maltese Falcon repeatedly came to mind, with a dash of Hogan's Heroes."[98]
In a review for IndieWire, David Ehrlich wrote that it "finds so little reason for Presley's life to be the stuff of a Baz Luhrmann movie that the equation ultimately inverts itself, leaving us with an Elvis Presley movie about Baz Luhrmann. They both deserve better." He also criticized Hanks's portrayal of Parker, calling it "a 'true true' performance defined by a fat suit, a fake nose, and an accent that I can only describe as the 'Kentucky Fried Goldmember'."[99] On a historical note, journalist Alanna Nash, who had written an acclaimed biography of Parker in 2010, called the film a "Baz Luhrmann fever dream" that kept the liberties of history fair except to Parker, citing that Luhrmann's approach of presenting it through a present-day lens meant that the complicated character researched by Nash of Parker is simplified.[100]
