Director Baz Luhrmann has received two thumbs up from Priscilla Presley for his highly-anticipated upcoming film, “Elvis.”
The 76-year-old entrepreneur and actor, who was married to Elvis Presley from 1967 to 1973, recently posted on Facebook about Luhrmann’s upcoming biopic.
In the post, she wrote that the director and screenwriter had recently set up a private screening for her and Jerry Schilling, a talent manager who worked with the late rock n’ roll star, at Warner Brothers studios.
“It is a true story told brilliantly and creatively that only Baz, in his unique artistic way, could have delivered,” she said.
“Elvis,” stars Austin Butler in the titular role and tells the story of the “Can’t Help Falling in Love” singer’s rise to fame through his relationship with manager Colonel Tom Parker, portrayed by Tom Hanks.
Presley called Butler’s depiction of Elvis “outstanding.”
“Halfway through the film Jerry and I looked at each other and said WOW!!!” she said. “Bravo to him… he knew he had big shoes to fill. He was extremely nervous playing this part. I can only imagine.”
She then applauded Hanks’ work, adding that he “was Col Parker in this film.”
Presley described Parker, who died in 1997, as having two sides and that she saw both firsthand.
While she said the story does not have a happy ending, she believes the movie will help fans understand her former husband’s journey.
She concluded that Luhrmann had “put his heart and soul and many hours into this film.”
Last year, Presley opened up to People about feeling protective of her late ex-husband.
“Women gravitated to him, so I would be nervous when he had to go places alone,” she shared at the time. “I would even go with him to get his teeth cleaned! I always had an eye on him because everyone in the world was after him.”
The pair met when she was only 14 years old. They married eight years later.
Speaking about their marriage, Presley told the publication, “I loved taking care of Elvis very much. I loved tending to him. I loved feeding him. We would baby talk, because you have to have your own language when you have that many people around.”
She added, “It was a good life. It was different, but it was ours.”
In February, Warner Bros. released the three-minute trailer for “Elvis,” that showed Butler’s transformation into the musician.
Olivia DeJonge plays Priscilla Presley in the musical drama and one scene shows her holding the couple’s baby daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. In her Facebook post, Priscilla did not mention DeJonge's performance.
At the end of the trailer, Elvis, who died in 1977 at age 42, says, “I’m almost 40 and nobody’s going to remember me. I need to get back to who I really am. This could all be over in a flash.”
The movie will be released in theaters on June 24, 2022.