The Big Picture
- Sofia Coppola, known for featuring strong female figures in her films, brings Priscilla Presley’s story to the forefront in her latest movie, Priscilla.
- Inspired by Presley’s memoir, Coppola dives into the world of the woman who would marry Elvis Presley, exploring their relationship and the pressures that led to their separation.
- Priscilla Presley, serving as an executive producer on the film, trusted Coppola due to the filmmaker’s sensitivity towards women, making her the perfect choice to bring her story to the big screen.
In a few weeks, the critically celebrated and award-winning director Sofia Coppola will be making her return to screens with Priscilla. A story about the woman who would eventually wed pop superstar, Elvis Presley, the filmmaker takes a deep dive into her world and life leading up to and during her days spent with the soulful singer. In a featurette released by A24, Coppola and Priscilla Presley herself chat about how the tale took form and made it all the way to the big screen.
Revealing that much of her vision was inspired by Presley’s memoir, Coppola refers to the couple as “American royalty.” Certainly, not far from the truth, the couple found themselves to be constantly followed by the press during their time together. “It’s a long story,” Presley says with a laugh, referring to the wild life she’s lived since her path first crossed with the “Suspicious Minds” singer in 1959 when she was just 14 years old, a full decade younger than the pop star. Putting all her trust in Coppola, Presley reveals that she’s a fan of the filmmaker, noting that it was particularly Coppola’s “sensitivity of women” that led her to sign over the rights to her story for the film, of which Presley serves as an executive producer on.
In Priscilla, Cailee Spaeny (The Craft: Legacy) appears as the titular powerhouse woman behind Jacob Elordi’s (Euphoria) Elvis Presley. The movie will center around the early days of the couple’s relationship, with much of the focus being put on Priscilla rather than the famed singer. Throughout the film, audiences will learn more about the troubling dynamics behind the pair’s relationship and the pressures that would eventually lead to their separation. Also starring is a cast that includes Dagmara Domińczyk (Succession), Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll (V/H/S/94), Luke Humphrey (I Was Lorena Bobbitt), Dan Beirne (The Twentieth Century), Raine Monroe Boland, and Emily Mitchell.
Sofia Coppola’s Past in Bringing Women to the Forefront
Breaking onto the scene with her feature-length production, The Virgin Suicides, Coppola quickly became a household name through her work in the Kirsten Dunst-led feature. She would again wow audiences with the Bill Murray-starrer Lost in Translation as her sophomore production, again teaming up with Dunst for her next vehicle, Marie Antoinette. While she’s helmed several other titles, Coppola tends to lean towards stories featuring strong female figures as can be seen in The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, The Bling Ring, and The Beguiled. Just as Presley says during the featurette, there’s a good reason that she chose to trust Coppola for the movie about her life.
Check out the featurette for Priscilla below and catch A24’s latest film in theaters on November 3.
