Los Angeles, February 18 – Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann is set to adapt Elvis Presley's story for the stage in a new theatrical production.
The Hollywood director brought his passion for the King of Rock and Roll to the big screen in his 2022 biopic ‘Elvis’, according to ‘Female First UK’.
The film starred Austin Butler as the late music legend, and he has also meticulously compiled archival footage to create a new documentary, ‘EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert’. Now, Luhrmann has confirmed his plans for a new stage production.
When asked about rumors 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, according to ‘Female First UK’, Luhrmann insisted he won't be taking an active role in the new project – comparing it to the creation of the successful stage show based on his 2001 film ‘Moulin Rouge’.
He added, “I’m not doing it because I’ve learned something. It’s like I got (writer/director) Alex Timbers to do ‘Moulin Rouge’ the musical. I can never go back. I can’t be me when I was 28 doing ‘Romeo and Juliet’ or ‘Strictly Ballroom’... but I really love handing it over. 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 premiered 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 premiered on Broadway in 2005, also featured music from Elvis' back catalogue.
Luhrmann previously revealed that 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.
He told ‘People’, “Documentaries about Elvis tend to be people talking about him, ‘Well, Elvis is this’. As we go through the material, we realize we have him at his peak, singing like never before”.
“We found 40 minutes of (footage) of him actually talking about his life, himself,” he added.
