Baz Luhrmann Reveals The Reason Why Harry Styles Wasn't Cast as Elvis Presley in 'Elvis'

Elvis Presley, starring rising star Austin Butler, was released. The new film focuses on The King's relationship with his controversial manager Colonel Tom Parker, who some fans believe made him the music icon he was, while others believe he held back the singer leading to his untimely demise. When cast in the role, Tom Hanks ended up having dinner with Elvis' ex-wife Priscilla Presley who asserted that the Colonel wasn't the villain some make him out to be.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticDoes the phrase “that’s all right” apply to the new “Elvis” movie… as in, “that’s all correct”? No one is probably expecting that — any practiced watcher of biopics knows virtually any example of the form will take deep liberties with the facts for dramatic purposes. And maybe it’s a given that a director who puts hip-hop and hard rock on the soundtracks for period films, as Baz Luhrmann does, might favor effect over absolute verisimilitude.Still, “Elvis” is right on enough counts — literally or spiritually — that it’s worth trying to separate fact from fiction in the movie’s narrative of Elvis Presley (played by Austin Butler) and his nearly career-long manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks).

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorDirector Baz Luhrmann  hoped “Elvis” would be much more than a biopic of Elvis Presley — he wanted to capture a time with a social history of this captivating figure that also told the story of America.Starring Austin Butler as Elvis and Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker, his manager, “Elvis” spans two decades. The backdrop is America’s Southern bible belt, the evolving cultural landscape, and the rock ‘n’ roller’s meteoric rise to stardom.Costume designer Catherine Martin explains there are two costume styles in the movie — “recreations of costumes that existed, and the other fictionalized outfits that are a synthesis of outfits that he actually had that help tell the story.” The pink suit rockabilly suit Butler sports was just one of 90 costumes he wore.

Kacey Musgraves puts a slower spin on Elvis Presley‘s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” for a newly released music video for the upcoming Elvis movie.

Elvis Presley’s family are leaving their mark on Hollywood.

Eight Elvises, was sold by the Italian art collector Annibale Berlingieri in a private sale for $100m to an unidentified buyer, thought to be the Qatari royal family. In 2014, another Warhol painting, Triple Elvis, sold for nearly $82m at an auction at Christie’s in New York. In the years since his death, the character of Elvis has featured in some 31 feature films, played by actors including Kurt Russell, Harvey Keitel and Don Johnson.

Elvis Presley.Baz Luhrmann — director of the upcoming biopic “Elvis” — recently revealed that he has a much longer cut of the musical drama.“I mean, I have a four-hour version, actually,” the Australian filmmaker, 59, told Radio Times.He also noted that there were a lot of extra scenes he wanted to include that would have helped complete the story of Elvis, portrayed by Austin Butler. However, there are serious time constraints. “You have to bring it down to 2 hours 30 [minutes],” he said.“I would have liked to lean into some of the other things more,” Luhrmann went on.

David Bowie, explaining how they almost worked on a project together in Berlin.The director, who worked with the late musician on the soundtrack for 2001’s Moulin Rouge!, told NME about how Bowie’s classic track ‘Changes’ impacted his life.“From the moment I first heard this song, I was a huge Bowie fan,” Luhrmann said. “I eventually worked with him [on the Moulin Rouge! soundtrack] and then towards the end of his life, he became a very good friend.“He used to come round and we’d walk the dogs.

Austin Butler is undoubtedly the man of the hour and talk of the town.MORE: Austin Butler is unrecognizable as Elvis PresleyThe actor has been making waves left and right, red carpet after red carpet, and his latest promotional visit was to none other than Today studios, where he chatted with the one and only Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager.Opening up to the co-hosts about his journey to embody the iconic singer and his efforts to portray him as accurately as possible, he also revealed a shocking – and heartbreaking – connection the actor and the rockstar have.WATCH: The Elvis trailerJenna was the one to make the revelation, telling Austin: "One thing that you and Elvis have in common, a heartbreaking thing, is that you both lost your mothers at 23."She went on to ask him: "How did that inspire you to get into this role?" which led him to explain how hard he found it at first to become Elvis rather than just an impersonation of him.He detailed the pressure and distance he felt from the late star, saying: "It's that thing where when you first look at Elvis he feels so much larger than life, and you look at him like a god-like figure or a caricature of Elvis."A post shared by TODAY with Hoda & Jenna (@hodaandjenna)The heartbreaking revelationRecalling some of the tapes he attempted to film of himself to share with his director, he admitted he wasn't satisfied, saying: "I fell into that, the first month when I was trying to work, where I'd tape myself and I watched it back and I just saw an impersonation, and I just couldn't send it to Baz."MORE: Lisa Marie Presley mourns late son BenjaminMORE: Kaia Gerber and Austin Butler's hottest style momentsHowever, everything changed when he learned about the connection they had over

Harry Styles in a new interview, saying the singer “embodies so much of Elvis”.The director’s biopic about the king of rock’n’roll will be released in cinemas in the UK on June 24 and is simply called Elvis.Speaking to The Times about the new movie – which stars Austin Butler in the titular role – Luhrmann observed that Elvis had “incredible style”. “Before people talked about [gender] fluidity, he had knitted bolero tank tops with his midriff hanging out, truck driver sideburns, make-up and dyed black hair,” he said. “He wore what would have been called, in the 19th century, dandy clothes.”When Styles was mentioned to him as the modern version of that, the filmmaker replied: “I know Harry well.

Harry Styles and Elvis Presley are both pop-culture sensations who crossed over to movies after wildly successful music careers. But for “Elvis” director Baz Luhrmann, their status as generational icons made Styles a poor choice to play The King in his new biopic.

Harry Styles is known for his record-breaking success, and his impact has even reached ‘Elvis’ director Baz Luhrmann, who recently explained why he prefered not to cast the singer in the highly anticipated biopic starring Austin Butler as the legendary musician.The successful artist was excited to have the opportunity to get into the role of Elvis Presley, however the coveted role was desired by many other Hollywood stars, and ultimately went to Butler, partly because Denzel Washington mentored the actor onstage and convinced Luhrmann to give him the role.And when asked about his decision to cast Butler instead of Styles, the director revealed he would be thrilled to “work on something with him” but his worldwide success as a singer was the reason for him not to be included in the cast of the long awaited film, adding that Butler was “born to play” Elvis.“Harry is a really talented actor,” Luhrmann said during a recent interview in the ‘Fitzy & Wippa’ podcast on Monday, declaring that “the real issue with Harry is, he’s Harry Styles. He’s already an icon.”“Harry and I came to a place, genuinely I mean, he was just desperate to put the suit on and explore.

Did you know Harry Styles’s first-ever recorded song was apparently a cover of Elvis Presley’s version of “The Girl of My Best Friend?” The “Watermelon Sugar” singer grew up listening to The King as a kid, so naturally, he eventually became a frontrunner to play the legend for director Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming Elvis biopic. But alas, it was not meant to be. “Harry is a really talented actor.

Harry Styles wasn’t cast in his Elvis Presley biopic and, honestly, it makes total sense. The filmmaker reckons the Grammy Award winning musician is just too much of an ‘icon’ to play Presley, which is surely the nicest job rejection you could possibly get. As It Was hitmaker Styles went for the lead role in Luhrmann’s biopic of The King, but ultimately lost out to Austin Butler.

Baz Luhrmann revealed why Harry Styles wasn’t cast as Elvis Presley in the upcoming “Elvis” movie in a new interview.

Harry Styles in his Elvis biopic.The director said in a new interview that the pop star “is a really talented actor” but wasn’t quite right for the role that eventually went to Austin Butler.“Harry is a really talented actor,” Luhrmann told Sydney’s Nova FM. “I would work on something with him… but the real issue with Harry is, he’s Harry Styles.