May 25 - Elvis Movie Premiere (Updated)

Director Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’ movie premieres at the 75th Cannes Film Festival. 

The film stars Austin Butler as Elvis Presley, Hollywood veteran actor Tom Hanks as Butler’s manager Colonel Tom Parker. 

Luhrmann attended the premiere along with Butler, Hanks and Olivia DeJonge, who stars in the movie as Priscilla Presley. The movie rocked, rolled and left the audience all shook up. 

The film brings Luhrmann back to Cannes where he made history by being the only director to have two of his films - "Moulin Rouge!" (2001) and "The Great Gatsby" (2013) - as the opening feature at the festival. His 1992 title "Strictly Ballroom" had competed in the Un Certain Regard category at the movie gala's 45th edition.

Baz Luhrmann’s 'Elvis' strutted its way up the Cannes Film Festival red carpet last night for the film’s world premiere which was greeted by explosive applause inside the Palais. The crowd got to its feet during the end credits, clapping in rhythm before the lights came up, and remained standing for 10 minutes to mark a 2022 record so far at the festival.

Amid shouts of “Bravo!” from the crowd, an emotional Luhrmann told the audience inside the Lumière Theatre he’d had a “bit of an epiphany” because “30 years ago my wife and I made a little film called Strictly Ballroom and the one exhibitor who had given him one screen said, “That is the worst film I have ever seen!"

So we went up the coast and I thought my film was never really going to work out when I got a phone-call from a Frenchman, who offered me a chance with a screening at the Cannes Film Festival. Eventually we showed the film in this Palais cinema … and my life has never been the same."

Luhrmann noted about making ELVIS, “I really believed that we would come to Cannes, but then the Covid came and the film was shut down and it was never going to happen, but for the bravery of Tom Hanks to come back and the bravery of this cast and this crew to go on through Covid and finish this film. And we are back in Cannes. And to see these streets so full of people who love movies of every form of life, every kind of movie, says so much more about what this place means and what it means to be back in the cinema. For that we are eternally grateful, Cannes… All I can say is, merci beaucoup, merci beaucoup.”

The BBC collected the highlights from the first reviews. Go to >>> BBC site for the article. 

The film will be released by Warner Bros. in North America on June 24, 2022 and in the rest of the world from June 22, 2022.

(Source: Cannes Film Festival / Facebook)