Warner Bros. ‘ biographical drama about Elvis Presley’s life and times will no longer hit theaters this year. The studio postponed the film from November 5, 2021 to June 3, 2022.
Baz Luhrmann is directing the still untitled film, which he co-wrote with Craig Pearce. Austin Butler, who recently appeared as Tex Watson in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, plays the man himself, while Tom Hanks plays his enigmatic businessman Colonel Tom Parker.
“Elvis” has been delayed because it is still in production in Australia. Sources say the film has five more weeks of material to shoot, so it would not have been completed in time for its original release date. It started shooting last March, but had to end production because Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for coronavirus. Hanks and Wilson were the first Hollywood celebrities to publicize their diagnosis and have since recovered.
Despite the initial release date in 2021, “Elvis” was not part of Warner Bros. ‘recent agreement to premiere its entire 2021 list simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max, the streaming service owned by its parent company WarnerMedia. Warners has promised that the deal – which has been unpopular (to say the least) between actors and directors in Hollywood – will not extend beyond this year.
The film captures the complex dynamic between the veteran entrepreneur and the young singer over 20 years, including Presley’s stratospheric rise to the eventual King of Rock and Roll. Olivia DeJonge, Gary Clark Jr., Yola and Shonka Dukureh complete the cast.