Elvis sings and tells his story like never before in a new cinematic experience from visionary filmmaker Baz Luhrmann.
Director’s Statement
During the making of Elvis (2022), we went on a search for rumoured unseen footage from the iconic 1970s concert films Elvis: That’s the Way It Is and Elvis on Tour that had reportedly been lost.
My initial thought was that, if we could find it, we may be able to restore the unused footage and use it in our Elvis feature, starring Austin Butler. I had researchers go into the Warner Bros. film vaults buried in underground salt mines in Kansas, and, to the astonishment of all, we uncovered 69 boxes (59 hours) of film negative that hadn’t been seen.
In addition to this, Angie Marchese (VP of Archives and Exhibits, and curator at Graceland) was able to unearth some never-before-seen Super8 from the Graceland Archives. It has taken over two years to restore the footage to a quality that it has never been projected at previously. Whilst some of the negatives had been printed and used in previous productions, there were many ‘never before seen’, shots, sequences and performances; so if portions of these cuts were out in the public realm, they were generally poor quality bootlegs. The team had to meticulously restore sound from the many unconventional sources that were also unearthed.
Throughout this incredibly detailed process, one of the great finds has been unheard recordings of Elvis talking about his life and his music: from the 1970 Vegas show, on tour in 1972 and even precious moments of the 1957 “gold jacket” performance in Hawaii. I knew that we could not pass up this opportunity. It was these discoveries that gave the inspiration for the new film.
What if, instead of reduxing the previous works, we made a film that wasn’t a documentary and wasn’t a concert film? What if Elvis came to you in a dreamscape, almost like a cinematic poem, and sang to you and told you his story in a way in which you haven’t experienced before? And what if we were able to work with the likes of Peter Jackson and the team at Park Road Post Production and other high-end technicians, and bring this original footage to a quality, to be seen on the big screen in a way in which it could not have been realised until now? What if we took both known recordings of Elvis telling you about his life and could reconstitute his own personal voice at a sonic level never before heard? Sonically, what if we could both reconstitute and remix the original orchestrations but at the same time imagine what he might do with his classic musical works through a contemporary prism? And what if in a world where Artificial Intelligence can make all sorts of illusions, the illusions were made from authentic and original material and restored with meticulous human craft? We asked the what ifs and answered them in what we are about to present at Toronto International Film Festival’s 50th Edition – EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,
Elvis sings and tells his story like never before.
Elvis takes the audience through the journey of his life, through both classic and contemporary musical prisms, weaving unseen footage with iconic performances that have never been presented in this way. EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert is a leap of the musical imagination and a tribute to one of the greatest performers of all time.
Elvis Presley Timeline
● After serving abroad in the US Army, Elvis Presley pursued an acting career and became one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors by the 1960s. In the meantime, The Beatles, as well as phenomena such as the Summer of Love in San Francisco and the anti-Vietnam War movement, had a huge impact on music and culture.
● A year after the Summer of Love, Elvis put on his ‘68 Comeback Special, which was his first appearance on TV in front of a live studio audience in over eight years and a visual and musical presentation that cemented his reputation as one of the great performers of all time.
● Elvis returned to the stage in Las Vegas at the International Hotel on July 31, 1969. The Vegas residency was hugely successful. When he was in residency, he typically played 2 sold-out shows per day, 7 days a week, 4 weeks straight, for approximately 7.5 years (July 1969 – December 1976). He sold more than a million tickets throughout the residency.
● The footage Luhrmann uses in EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert was collected by large MGM cameras over various nights of his Vegas residency in 1970, shot in 35mm anamorphic.
● In 1970, Elvis embarked on his first concert tour since 1957. His 1972 Summer tour included 4 sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden. In EPiC, Luhrmann utilises footage from tour engagements captured in 1972 alongside recordings from 6 different Vegas residency shows. Together, the Vegas and tour footage constitute Elvis Presley’s return to the stage at the height of his career and reinvention as an artist at the start of a new decade.
● While Elvis never performed outside of North America, he did perform in Canada a total of 3 times. He performed in Toronto on April 2, 1957, at the Maple Leaf Gardens (now Mattamy Athletic Centre on the campus of Toronto Metropolitan University). Later the same year, he performed in Ottawa and Vancouver. These performances are not represented in the footage of the film, but they underscore Elvis’ connection to Canada and the significance of the World Premiere at TIFF.
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert Background
● When producing his feature film Elvis, Luhrmann discovered that there were reels of footage from Elvis Presley’s concert performances in Las Vegas during the 1970s. With the assistance of Warner Bros., his team was able to locate the lost footage as well as many 16-track audio recordings.
● Luhrmann first met Jonathan Redmond when editing Moulin Rouge! and they have since formed a longtime creative partnership through various projects, including Australia, The Great Gatsby and Elvis. Jonathan, whom Luhrmann refers to as “Jono,” is both an editor and executive producer for EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert. As Luhrmann likes to credit, Jono is the driving creative force on the project.
● It took two years to locate the negatives, which Luhrmann’s team then worked with Warner Bros. to scan in 4K. They also found Super8 footage that has never been seen before. Enter Peter Jackson and his team at Park Road Post Production, who worked to restore not just the 8mm but the 16mm and 35mm anamorphic, as well. Ultimately, Luhrmann worked with over 59 hours of rare footage, including anamorphic 35mm, as well as 8mm from the 1950s.
● Many of the audio tracks did not sync to the footage, so the team utilised lip reading to match the tracks to specific footage. Warner Bros. provided over 2,300 rolls of Elvis archive material to assist in the process.
● While Luhrmann’s hands-on work in music is well known (he is credited as executive music producer), he’s identified Jamieson Shaw, a longtime collaborator of Luhrmann’s, as overall music producer, bringing together new material that was recorded for the project with the classic audio. In addition, Luhrmann’s previous collaborators, such as Elliott Wheeler (composer on Elvis) contributed to the score. Bryan Patrick & Kim Green (music supervisors) have also returned in new roles.
● Omer Fedi has lent his hand in producing a remix of ‘Always On My Mind. ’Fedi’s impressive writing and producing credits can be found on hits for artists like Rosé (Blackpink) & Bruno Mars, Lil Nas X, Royel Otis and Sam Smith.
● There are over 70 pieces of music in the film performed by Elvis, either in Vegas or on tour as well as in rehearsals and some classic recordings from his lifelong catalogue. The film captures iconic covers from notable artists such as The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Ray Charles, Dusty Springfield, Bob Dylan, Three Dog Night, Brenda Lee, Edwin Hawkins and The Righteous Brothers.
● During the making of Elvis, Luhrmann had an office at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee for 18 months. While living in Memphis, Luhrmann was introduced to Angie Marchese, VP of Archives and Exhibits and curator at Graceland, who provided the production with newly discovered 8mm footage of Elvis performing in Hawaii. Luhrmann’s time at Graceland and the people he met there informed both the production of Elvis and EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert.
BAZ LUHRMANN | DIRECTOR
Baz Luhrmann is a pioneer of pop culture working across film, opera, theatre, live events, fashion, and music. His singular cinematic language continues to captivate audiences through a unique fusion of classical artistry and bold, contemporary style that has ignited imaginations around the world and made Luhrmann the most commercially successful director in Australia, with four of the country’s top-ten grossing films.
Born in Sydney, Australia, Luhrmann’s journey began in theatre, where his innovative productions won the acclaim of audiences and critics alike. He burst onto the scene with the first of his Red Curtain Trilogy, Strictly Ballroom, which premiered at the 1992 Cannes Festival. This film was followed by the ambitious modern adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996) and the Academy Award-winning Moulin Rouge! (2001). With these films, Luhrmann brought the movie-musical back into the zeitgeist with his infectious, trademark theatrical aesthetic and operatic sense of romance.
Returning to the stage, Luhrmann’s production company, Bazmark, went on to garner two Tony Awards for the Broadway run of Puccini’s opera La Bohème (2002), which he then followed up with the sweeping historical epic, the Academy Award-nominated Australia (2008).
His now-iconic screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (2013) won two Academy Awards and became Luhrmann’s highest-grossing film to date. Collaborating with Jay-Z on the Gatsby soundtrack, Luhrmann redefined cross-genre music in film, with the album peaking at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and setting a new record for the biggest digital sales week for a soundtrack in Billboard history.
Always pushing the boundaries of genre, Luhrmann collaborated with Netflix on his first series, The Get Down (2016), a critically acclaimed show about the birth of hip-hop in the 1970s South Bronx. His recent projects also include Faraway Downs, a six-part Hulu series reimagining his 2008 film, Australia.
Luhrmann’s 2022 film Elvis, starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks and entirely shot on the Gold Coast, Australia, became the fourth-highest-grossing Australian film of all time.
Elvis received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, while also winning four BAFTAs and eleven Australian Academy (AACTA) awards. Butler took home a BAFTA and a Golden Globe and was nominated for the Academy Award.
The film’s Grammy-nominated soundtrack, produced by Luhrmann through his label House of Iona, featured the hit single “Vegas” by Doja Cat, which charted on Billboard’s top 10 and was also nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Performance. Elvis is Luhrmann’s most nominated film to date.
Luhrmann lives between New York, Paris and the Gold Coast with his wife and creative partner, Oscar-winning designer Catherine Martin, and their two children. Luhrmann is currently in development on his forthcoming epic, Jehanne d’Arc at Warner Bros.
