EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros has firmed a splashy Cannes premiere for Elvis, the Baz Luhrmann-directed epic story about the relationship between Elvis Presley and his manager Colonel Tom Parker that shook up the world of rock and roll forever. No specific date yet, but the film is locked in for a Palais bow, sources said. Once Upon A Time…in Hollywood‘s Austin Butler plays Presley and Tom Hanks plays Parker, the man who discovered the singer and turned him into a world famous star, taking half his earnings for his trouble.
This has been in the air for awhile, but Deadline can confirm it is definitely happening. The film will open June 24 through Warner Bros, and this ought to get Elvis off to a flying start for the studio, coming on the heels of the blockbuster grosses of The Batman. It will be a grand coming out party for Luhrmann, who found out days before start of production that Hanks had come down with Covid, a seismic event that presaged the shutdown of all Hollywood shoots as the global Covid pandemic hit all over. Hanks had been the first major star to be hit with the virus.
Luhrmann wrote the film with Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce and Jeremy Doner, and he produced with Gail Berman, Catherine Martin, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss.
No comment from Warner Bros. but expect Elvis to be part of the lineup when the festival announces shortly.