‘Elvis’ Movie From Director Baz Luhrmann Delayed Until 2022
Baz Luhrmann’sElviswas one of the first movie productions to be affected by the COVID-19 when starTom Hanksannounced he and wifeRita Wilsonhad both tested positive for coronavirus. Now, a year later, things have come full-circle and Warner Bros. is officially delaying the movie to 2022. Originally,Elviswas supposed to open this upcoming November but will now arrive in the summer of 2022.
The news comes to us fromVariety, who report that Luhrmann’sElvismovie is moving from its July 05, 2025 release date toJune 3, 2022. This move also will keepElvisfrom joining the other 2021 Warner Bros. movies that are all headed to HBO Max on the same day they hit theaters. As of now, WB swears that the HBO Max release strategy isn’t going to extend into 2022. But that could always change.
It’s slightly surreal to be talking about a delay for this film, asElviswas the first movie production to be affected by the coronavirus. Back in March 2020, when COVID-19 was spreading and becoming major news, Tom Hanks became the first major actor to announce he had contracted the virus. Hanks and wife Rita Wilson were in Australia so Hanks, who is playing Elvis' longtime manager Colonel Tom Parker, could shoot the film. By allaccounts, Hanks and Wilson “contracted the illness outside Australia and traveled to Queensland with the virus.” Hanks and Wilson returned to Los Angeles and entered quarantine and both of them thankfully recovered. Later, they donated their blood antibodies for virus research.
This entire experience resulted in production onElvisbeing shut down. Production on the film picked back up in September 2020. Now, almost a year after Hanks' diagnosis, here we are again. In addition to Hanks,ElvisstarsAustin Butleras Elvis Presley andOlivia DeJongeas Priscilla Presley, and featuresKelvin Harrison Jr.as B.B. King,Alton Masonas Little Richard, and a cast that also includesYola,Luke Bracey,Dacre Montgomery,Richard Roxburgh, and more.
Elvis"captures the complex dynamic between the veteran manager and the young singer over the span of 20 years, including Presley’s stratospheric rise into the eventual King of Rock and Roll."
I have to admit I’m completely burned out on musician biopics, primarily because they all follow the same damn formula – a formula that was perfectly spoofed inWalk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, a movie that should’ve put the final nail the musician biopic coffin. But Luhrmann is an interesting director and I’m hopeful he’ll try something new with his take on the story of the King of Rock’n Roll.
