Baz Luhrmann is bringing Elvis Presley’s story to theatres in a new stage show.
The Hollywood director brought his love of the King to the big screen in his 2022 biopic Elvis – which starred Austin Butler as the late music legend – and he’s also painstakingly put together archive footage to create new documentary EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert.
Now Luhrmann has confirmed he’s planning a new stage production.
When asked about rumours of an Elvis stage musical during an appearance on Magic Radio, Luhrmann said: “It’s being worked on, it’s happening. I don’t know if I was supposed to announce it but, hey, I just did … We are, yes.”
However, Luhrmann insisted he won’t be taking a hands-on role in the new project – likening it to the creation of the hit stage show based on his 2001 film Moulin Rouge!
He added: “I’m not doing it because I have this thing I’ve learnt – it’s like I got (writer/director) Alex Timbers to do the Moulin Rouge! musical – I can never go backwards.
“I can’t be me when I was 28 doing Romeo and Juliet or Strictly Ballroom … but I really love handing it on, I’m not precious … I’m like, ‘take my baby!'”
Elvis’ songs were previously featured on stage in the musical Jailhouse Rock – based on the King’s 1957 film of the same name – which opened in London’s West End in 2004 and featured Mario Kombou in the role of Vince Everett, previously played by the late music star onscreen.
All Shook Up – which opened on Broadway in 2005 – also featured music from Elvis’ back catalogue.
Luhrmann previously revealed he discovered many more intimate details about the King – who died in 1977 at the age of 42 – while working on EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, which was based on 36 hours of archival footage from Elvis’ 1969 residency at the International Hotel in Las Vegas.
Speaking to People, Luhrmann described the film as “a cinematic tone poem” rather than a straightforward documentary or concert recording.
He said: “Documentaries about Elvis tend to be people talking about him: ‘Well, Elvis is this.’
“As we go through the material, we recognise we have him in his prime … singing like never before seen.
“We found 40 minutes of (footage) of him actually talking about his life, himself.”
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