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Elvis’ estate lambasts new Priscilla Presley biopic despite actor herself being ‘excited’

‘It feels like a college movie. The set designs are just horrific, it’s not what Graceland looks like,’ Elvis’ estate official said

Tom Murray
Friday 23 June 2023 00:47 BST
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Priscilla Presley - Sneak Peek

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Priscilla Presley is a lot more excited about her upcoming biopic movie than the estate of her ex-husband, Elvis.

Euphoria star Jacob Elordi and Mare of Easttown’s Cailee Spaeny play the King and his wife in Sofia Coppola’s forthcoming A24 movie, Priscilla.

The film, which released its first trailer on Wednesday (21 June) is based on Priscilla’s 1985 memoir Elvis and Me.

Sharing the movie’s poster on Instagram Thursday, Priscilla said she was “excited about the interpretation” of her book “by the masterful Sofia Coppola”.

“She has such an extraordinary perspective and I have always been such an admirer of her work,” added Priscilla, 78. “I’m certain this movie will take everyone on an emotional journey.”

Elvis’ estate had a different take, though. Estate officials told TMZ that Priscilla was produced without the Estate's knowledge or consent.

“It feels like a college movie. The set designs are just horrific, it’s not what Graceland looks like,” one official reportedly told the publication.

The Independent has contacted A24 for comment.

Director Coppola, daughter of The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola, is perhaps best known for her Oscar-nominated, 2003 comedy-drama Lost in Translation, which starred Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson as unlikely lovers whose paths cross in Tokyo.

“When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend,” A24’s synopsis for Priscilla reads.

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“Through Priscilla’s eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla’s long courtship and turbulent marriage, from a German army base to his dream-world estate at Graceland, in this deeply felt and ravishingly detailed portrait of love, fantasy, and fame.”

Lisa Marie, the only daughter of Priscilla and Elvis, died in January aged 54 after suffering cardiac arrest.

Weeks after her death, Priscilla made a challenge to the “authenticity and validity” of Lisa Marie’s will, which she was removed from several years ago, citing an unusual signature and other allegedly inconsistent details.

Elvis’s entire estate was due to go to Lisa Marie’s daughter, Daisy Jones and The Six star Riley Keough, 34.

In May, it was reported that Riley and Priscilla had reached an agreement in court.

Elvis and Priscilla married in 1967 before divorcing six years later in 1973.

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