Baz Luhrmann: 'Bono read me his poem about Elvis... ?it was the perfect way to end our film'

"Baz Luhrmann thought he was done with Elvis Presley. His biopic, starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks, was widely acclaimed in 2022 and nominated for several Oscars. He had first got the ball rolling on Elvis some eight years before and, yet, there was unfinished business."

"In the course of working on that lengthy feature, the Australian auteur filmmaker had come in contact with more than 50 hours of never-before-seen footage of Presley, with much of it depicting him rehearsing for his Las Vegas shows, as well as concert footage from that residency at Sin City's International Hotel."

Baz Luhrmann believed his work on Elvis Presley was complete after an acclaimed 2022 biopic starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks that earned several Oscar nominations. He had developed the Elvis project for about eight years but sensed unfinished business remained. While working on the feature, Luhrmann encountered more than 50 hours of previously unseen footage of Presley. Much of the material shows Presley rehearsing for his Las Vegas shows and includes concert footage from his residency at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. The archival material inspired a follow-up film emphasizing Presley’s own performances and presence.

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