You can watch the first trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert below! Set for release next year, the film features long-lost footage from Elvis’ Las Vegas residency, 16mm clips from Elvis on Tour (1972), and 8mm gems from the Graceland archive!
As you’ll see, the trailer opens with Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra, showing Elvis twirling his ring and tapping his foot backstage. Text appears: “In 1969, Elvis returned to the stage to begin a legendary residency in Las Vegas. For 40 years, there have been rumours of lost footage … It was found.”
Presley himself reflects: “There’s been a lot written and a lot said, but never from my side of the story,” before belting The Battle Hymn of the Republic over vintage concert footage.
The film premiered at TIFF in September and will have its first advanced screenings at Graceland on January 8 (what would have been Elvis’ 91st birthday) before an exclusive IMAX release on February 20 and general release February 27.
It’s said that Luhrmann uncovered 68 boxes of 35mm and 8mm footage in Kansas salt mines, including unheard interviews, Presley’s iconic 1957 Hawaii performance in his gold jacket, and rare outtakes. The silent footage was restored and synced to existing audio, revealing a 45-minute audio recording of Presley sharing his life story.
“I wouldn’t call it a documentary, or a concert film; our aim here is to make something new in the Elvis canon … to bring something to the screen that befits the magnitude of Elvis as a performer but also offers deeper revelations of his humanity and inner life,” Luhrmann told Deadline.
His 2022 biopic starring Austin Butler as Elvis and Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker grossed over $288 million worldwide, earned eight Oscar nominations, and was named one of the year’s best films by the American Film Institute.
Where do you place Elvis in the pantheon of rock? Where does The King sit in your Top 100?
