Baz Luhrmann claims that his upcoming biopic of Elvis Presley will be the Apocalypse Now of musicals. Luhrmann’s last feature film was a 3D adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic, The Great Gatsby.
After the success of The Great Gatsby, Luhrmann made The Get Down, a Netflix series revolving around young teenagers in the South Bronx set in the 1970s in New York City’s cultural heyday. However, the venture was a failure and Netflix canceled the show after one season.
Since then, Luhrmann has been developing the biopic of the rock and roll legend Elvis Presley. Austin Butler is all set to play the titular role in the biopic. Luhrmann describes the film as a “three-act cultural opera” rather than a biopic.
In a recent interview with EW, Luhrmann compared Elvis to the 1979 monster hit Apocalypse Now, calling his upcoming film the ‘Apocalypse Now of musicals’.
The Apocalypse Now of musicals is what I’ve joked about calling the movie—and that’s the ’70s period. It’s so sprawling and it’s beautiful, but it’s powerful. It’s a three-act pop-cultural opera.
Baz Luhrmann
Apocalypse Now is considered a revolutionary film because of the lengths to which Francis Ford Coppola went to make the film. While the two films differ completely in terms of content, Luhrmann’s comparison still stands as he claims to have done something with the musical genre that the audience has not experienced before.
The biggest challenge for such a biopic is to capture the audience who may not have grown up listening to Elvis Presley or do not know much about him. Luhrmann is known for his vivid, flamboyant visuals and stellar frames, which may help capture the attention of the ordinary cine-going audience.
But banking on Presley’s popularity and the nostalgia factor may not be enough to make it a hit. Hopefully, Luhrmann will deliver once again. It seems like he is confident in his project.
Elvis will release in theatres on June 24, 2022.
About Elvis
Elvis is an upcoming biographical musical film directed by Baz Luhrmann, from a screenplay written by Luhrmann, Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner, with a story by Luhrmann and Doner. The film tells the life and career of rock and movie star Elvis Presley (Austin Butler). The film is dedicated to the memory of The Ladd Company’s founder Alan Ladd Jr., who died in March 2022.
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