What was it like being married to Elvis Presley? To be the envy of every woman in the world? We got a glimpse of what it was like for Priscilla Presley in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, and it wasn’t as surreal as it appeared to be to outsiders. In Sofia Coppola’s new film, Priscilla, we get a look at their marriage as told entirely from her perspective.
Taking on the role of Priscilla Presley is Pacific Rim: Uprising star Cailee Spaeny, with Euphoria‘s Jacob Elordi as Elvis. Coppola pulls double-duty as writer/director, adapting Priscilla Presley’s 1985 biography, Elvis and Me.
Coppola is best known for directing Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides, and Marie Antoinette. Her last feature film was 2020’s On the Rocks.
Here’s the synopsis: When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend. Through Priscilla’s eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla’s long courtship and turbulent marriage, from a German army base to his dream-world estate at Graceland, in this deeply felt and ravishingly detailed portrait of love, fantasy, and fame.
As we saw with Austin Butler, tackling the role of Elvis could be the path to acclaim and potential awards. The same goes for Spaeny as Priscilla. Spaeny has been on the cusp of breaking out and this could be the part that does it. Clearly, A24 has high hopes for Priscilla as they plan to release it this October.
