LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Independent entertainment company A24 has released the first look at its upcoming biopic titled ‘Priscilla’. The film stars Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla Presley and ‘Euphoria’ fame Jacob Elordi as her husband and legendary singer Elvis Presley.
Sofia Coppola is set to make another anticipated return to the screens with the biopic ‘Priscilla’. Known for her various adaptations like ‘Marie Antoinette’ and ‘Virgin Suicides’, she will once again be bringing Priscilla Presley’s autobiography to life.
The Elvis-Priscilla romance
The film is based on Pricilla's autobiography with Sandra Harmon called ‘Elvis and Me’. The book traces Priscilla’s relationship with the iconic singer, from their first meeting till his death. While the film seems to pick up from where the autobiography does, a large chunk of the teaser seems to be about Priscilla, covering little about Elvis’ immense growing popularity throughout their relationship.
In classic Coppola fashion, the film opens with close-ups of 'Mare of Easttown' actress putting on the'60s popular eyeliner and a generous amount of hairspray. There’s barely any dialogue revealed in the teaser, just a quiet run down of how the Presleys' relationship will play out. The teaser also revealed Coppola’s usual choice soundtrack -- ‘How You Satisfy Me’ by Spectrum.
A change of lens in ‘Priscilla’
It is quite unavoidable that the critically acclaimed Baz Luhrmann biopic ‘Elvis’ will consistently be compared with Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’. But the change of perspective, especially that of Coppola, is quite crucial to what we can expect from the film.
Coppola is known for her hyper-soft-feminine worlds that she creates in an imagination almost alternate with how reality had depicted them. From the anachronistic ‘Marie Antoinette’ to the unsettling but romantic ‘Virgin Suicides’ along with the rather questionable but full of White femininity ‘The Beguiled’, Coppola’s lens lets go of what the world considers profound and focuses on the materials and exchanges left unseen.
This is like turning ‘Elvis’ on its head. The rock-and-roll singer’s biopic is extravagant, loud, and flashy, and for all the right reasons. That is how one can imagine an icon who is considered a legend in the music industry. His biopic was more or less about himself and Priscilla remained an afterthought in it. Coppola pushes that afterthought to the front but with softer details, as seen in the teaser. She doesn’t seem to restrict the film to how we are seeing Priscilla but what Priscilla is seeing as well.
‘Priscilla’ is set to release in theaters in October 2023.
