Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi are stepping into some iconic shoes as Priscilla and Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola’s adaptation of Priscilla’s 1985 memoir, “Elvis and Me.” The film, “Priscilla,” which Coppola wrote and directed, will be distributed by A24 in North America. Coppola is also known for “The Virgin Suicides” and “Marie Antoinette,” and previously worked with A24 on “On the Rocks” and “The Bling Ring.” The real Priscilla Presley also serves as an executive producer on the film, and she has voiced her support for the project multiple times.
“Priscilla” comes on the heels of Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 film “Elvis,” which featured Austin Butler as the titular star and Olivia DeJonge as his wife. Butler was nominated for an Oscar for his role.
Priscilla first met Elvis Presley in 1959 when she was 14 years old, and he was 24 and serving in the army in Germany. Priscilla moved to the United States to be with him in 1963, and the pair were married from 1967 until 1973. “Elvis and Me” describes her relationship with the icon, spanning their meeting, their marriage and daughter, his infidelity, their eventual divorce, and his death.
The film’s first trailer dropped on June 21, giving us a taste of what’s to come through countless blink-and-you’ll-miss-it snippets of scenes from the film. They include Priscilla applying her ’60s-style winged liner and aerosol hairspray, watching Elvis play the piano in awe, visiting Graceland, getting married, and more. The only bit of dialogue comes at the very end of the 45-second clip, with Priscilla’s mother asking her, “What about the boys at school? There must be some handsome ones,” alluding to the forbidden nature of her and Elvis’s relationship in its early stages.
Check out everything we know about “Priscilla,” including the new trailer, ahead.
“Priscilla” Trailer
“Priscilla” Release Date
“Priscilla” will premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 4 and will hit theaters on Oct. 27.
“Priscilla” Cast
Variety first reported Spaeny and Elordi’s casting on Sept. 12, 2022. Spaeny is best known for her roles in “Mare of Easttown” and “Bad Times at the El Royale,” while Elordi stars in “Euphoria” and appeared in “The Kissing Booth.”
“Priscilla” Poster
Image Source: A24
What Has Priscilla Presley Said About “Priscilla”?
The real-life Priscilla Presley is serving as an executive producer for the film, and she has voiced her support for the biopic multiple times. In June, Priscilla revealed that she is a fan of Coppola and said she was looking forward to the movie. “I am excited about the interpretation of my book by the masterful Sofia Coppola,” she wrote on Instagram. “She has such an extraordinary perspective and I have always been such an admirer of her work. I’m certain this movie will take everyone on an emotional journey.”
Then, in an Aug. 23 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Priscilla once again threw her support behind Coppola. “I’m so nervous because it’s my life,” she said of the movie. “The people who are watching, they’re living it with you, and you hope and pray that they get it. They get your feelings, your hurts, your sensitivity.” Ultimately, though, Priscilla said she trusts Coppola with her story. “. . .I just got who she was and I felt that she could get me,” she said. Citing the fact that Coppola also grew up in the orbit of a larger-than-life artist — her father, Francis Ford Coppola — Priscilla said she felt Coppola could understand some of what she went through. “I thought, we have different stories, but she could understand this better than any writer because she kind of lived it in her own way,” Priscilla added.
Elvis’s estate, however, hasn’t been as approving. The estate slammed the biopic in June, telling Page Six that the film was “horrible” and a “money grab.” Coppola also told The Hollywood Reporter that the estate did not grant her the rights to Elvis’s music. “They don’t like projects that they haven’t originated, and they’re protective of their brand,” she said. “But that made us be more creative.”