Sofia Coppola is set to tell the story of Elvis and Priscilla Presley in a new film, with an Australian playing the role of the music legend, but the spotlight won’t be on the iconic musician.
The first trailer for Coppola’s Priscilla has been released and promises to tell the epic story of Priscilla and Elvis’ romance, from the controversial beginning when she was just 14, through the ups and down, to the very end.
Cailee Spaeny stars as Priscilla Presley and Australian actor Jacob Elordi stars as Elvis Presley, in the film that is written and directed by Coppola.
The movie is based on Priscilla’s book, Elvis and Me, which was released in 1985. In the book, she writes about how the two met when she was a teenager, their marriage and why they got divorced.
The shoot started in October 2022 and just a few weeks prior, Coppola shared a picture to Instagram of her own copy of Priscilla’s memoir, saying she was excited to tell her story.
‘Moved by her story’
Speaking to Vogue last year, Coppola said she has had the memoir for years and around the time of the interview, she and a friend were talking about Priscilla.
“I read it again and was really moved by her story. I was supposed to start this big Edith Wharton project that was gonna take five months to shoot and felt really daunting,” Coppola said.
“I came up against a few hurdles, so I just decided to pivot to making one film with one idea. I was just so interested in Priscilla’s story and her perspective on what it all felt like to grow up as a teenager in Graceland. She was going through all the stages of young womanhood in such an amplified world—kinda similar to Marie Antoinette.”
The film will cover Priscilla’s life from ages 15 to 27 and in the same interview with Vogue, Coppola said it was important to her to have the same actor play her throughout the film.
She said she feels Spaeny has the skills to pull off the role, plus she looks quite young.
As for Elordi playing Elvis, the director said while no one quite looks like Elvis, the Australian does have the same magnetism as the “King of Rock n Roll”.
She said she had seen Elordi in Euphoria, as she watched an episode with her daughter; however, she said the show was “too much” for her.
Priscilla Presley will serve as an executive producer on the film.
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Coppola on Luhrmann’s Elvis
Just last year, Baz Luhrmann directed the film Elvis, which focused on the musician’s relationship with manager Colonel Tom Parker.
The film was a box office success and picked up several awards, with Austin Butler in the lead role and Australian actor Olivia DeJonge playing Priscilla.
When speaking to Vogue, Coppola remarked how creative Luhrmann was but noted Priscilla was only a minor character in Elvis, whereas in her film, Elvis is more of a minor character.
“I think it’ll be interesting to have two completely different interpretations of the same events and time period.”
