‘Every time Elvis shows up, we just burn money’: ‘Priscilla’ producers reveal Elvis’ scene-stealing antics

Just because the forthcoming Priscilla film is helmed by a more down-to-earth director, Sofia Coppola, compared to last year’s Elvis director Baz Luhrmann, that doesn’t mean the King of Rock’s presence in the movie will be any less over-the-top.

True to the larger-than-life figure that the international superstar was, Coppola’s approach to him in Priscilla was to adopt a different editing and sound style for when he was present in a scene compared to when he was absent. Since the film, which is set to debut at the 2023 Venice Film Festival later this year, is taken from the perspective of Cailee Spaeny’s Priscilla Presley, based on her own memoir Elvis and Me, the A24-produced Priscilla will have a decidedly different tone than the Oscar-nominated Luhrmann film. However, the character of Elvis, portrayed by Jacob Elordi, sounds like he will still be a scene-stealer in the movie. As Coppola explained to The Hollywood Reporter:

“When Elvis is in the building, there’s a different energy because he’s so full of life […] When he’s gone, it’s more quiet.”

Elvis’ presence in the movie also apparently resulted in a higher rate of spending in its production, due to his elaborate costumes and various antics in the story, such as accidentally starting a fire in Graceland. As producer Youree Henley explained:

“Every time Elvis shows up, we just burn money. With Priscilla, things felt sure-footed and we knew what to do and we had the means to do it. And Elvis would whirl in and it would be like, ‘Oh man, that guy’s always got to be in some crazy outfit and he’s always got to have 10 people around him.’”

Another example of Elvis’ expensive presence in the movie can be found in a scene that Coppola reportedly fought to keep in the movie in which the singer “demolished a building on Graceland’s property and accidentally started a fire.” Coppola explained the reason she felt so strongly that the scene must remain in the movie, despite a relatively modest $20 million budget:

“I just hung on to it till the bitter end because it says so much about being in his world, his eccentric way of living, all his whims.”

The demolition and fire scene is not something that was in the brisk-paced Elvis, just one of the many ways Priscilla will set itself apart from that film. The movie will also explore some of the darker aspects of the famous couple’s relationship, such as losing his temper during a pillow fight to the point of giving Priscilla a black eye in one scene. Another way Priscilla will be different from Elvis is the fact that the soundtrack won’t contain any of the rock-and-roll icon’s music in its soundtrack, a happy accident that was the result of Elvis’ branding company denying the request.

Priscilla comes to theaters on October 27.