Priscilla (film)

Priscilla is a 2023 American biographical drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Sofia Coppola, based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley (who serves as an executive producer) and Sandra Harmon. It follows the life of Presley and her relationship with Elvis Presley. Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi star as Priscilla and Elvis.

Priscilla
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySofia Coppola
Written bySofia Coppola
Based on
Elvis and Me
by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyPhilippe Le Sourd
Edited bySarah Flack
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byA24
Release dates
  • September 4, 2023 (2023-09-04) (Venice)
  • October 27, 2023 (2023-10-27) (United States)
Running time
113 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Priscilla premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2023. It will be released in the United States by A24 in limited theaters on October 27, 2023, before expanding wide on November 3, 2023.[2][3]

Premise

The film follows Priscilla Presley and her life with Elvis Presley.

Cast

Production

Development and casting

On September 12, 2022, it was announced Sofia Coppola would direct an adaptation of Priscilla Presley's memoir Elvis and Me, starring Jacob Elordi as Elvis Presley and Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla Presley.[4] When asked what made her want to adapt Priscilla's memoir for her next feature film, Coppola responded in an interview, "I've had her memoir for years and remember reading it a long time ago. A friend of mine was talking about her recently, and we got around to discussing the book. I read it again and was really moved by her story. I was supposed to start this big Edith Wharton project that was gonna take five months to shoot and felt really daunting. I came up against a few hurdles, so I just decided to pivot to making one film with one idea. I was just so interested in Priscilla's story and her perspective on what it all felt like to grow up as a teenager in Graceland. She was going through all the stages of young womanhood in such an amplified world—kinda similar to Marie Antoinette."[5]

When asked what made Cailee Spaeny the right choice to play Priscilla, Coppola stated, "The character goes from the age of 15 to 27 over the course of the film, so she had to be able to act and age across a big span of time. It was really important for me to have the same actress playing Priscilla at those different stages of her life, and I think Cailee can pull it off. She's such a strong actress, and she also looks very young."[5] Of Jacob Elordi's casting as Elvis, Coppola stated, "I thought nobody was gonna look quite like Elvis, but Jacob has that same type of magnetism. He's so charismatic, and girls go crazy around him, so I knew he could pull off playing this type of romantic icon. But we're talking before we've even started filming, so I can't get too deep into it."[5][6]

Coppola revealed in an interview that Priscilla Presley is an executive producer of Priscilla.[5]

Priscilla does not have Elvis Presley's music on its soundtrack. Coppola's husband, Thomas Mars, and his band, Phoenix, were music supervisors on the movie and Sons of Raphael wrote music for the film. [7]

Filming

Principal photography for Priscilla began in Toronto on October 24, 2022.[8] Filming wrapped in early December.[9]

Release

Priscilla premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2023.[10] It screened as the Centerpiece Selection of the 2023 New York Film Festival on October 6[11][12] and had its Canadian premiere as a special presentation at the 42nd Vancouver International Film Festival on October 7.[13][14] The film will be distributed in the United States by A24, and in Italy by Vision Distribution.[4] Originally to be distributed by Stage 6 Films and Sony Pictures Releasing International outside the United States and Italy, Mubi later acquired these rights, with its company The Match Factory handling international sales and Mubi itself distributing in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, the Benelux, Turkey and Latin America.[15]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 62 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "With Cailee Spaeny's performance in the title role leading the way, Priscilla sees Sofia Coppola taking a tender yet clear-eyed look at the often toxic blend created by mixing first love and fame."[16] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 82 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[17]

BBC Culture's Nicholas Barber found it an "understated, non-judgemental portrait" of Priscilla, which was in stark contrast to the tone of Baz Luhrmann's telling of Elvis's story in Elvis (2022).[18]

Awards and nominations
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Venice Film Festival 9 September 2023 Golden Lion Sofia Coppola Nominated [19]
Volpi Cup for Best Actress Cailee Spaeny Won [20]
Gotham Independent Film Awards 27 November 2023 Outstanding Lead Performance Pending [21]

References
  1. "Priscilla (15)". British Board of Film Classification. October 9, 2023. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  2. D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 8, 2023). "'Priscilla' Moves To November Following Big Splash At Venice". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  3. "'Priscilla'". A24 Films. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  4. "Jacob Elordi to Play Elvis, Cailee Spaeny Is Priscilla Presley in Sofia Coppola's Film 'Priscilla'". variety.com. September 12, 2022.
  5. Bell, Keaton (October 14, 2022). "Sofia Coppola Will Now Take You Behind the Scenes of Her Priscilla Presley Biopic". Vogue.
  6. Shafer, Ellise (September 4, 2023). "Priscilla Presley on 'Priscilla's' Portrayal of Her Age Difference With Elvis: 'He Respected the Fact I Was Only 14 Years Old'". Variety.
  7. "Priscilla Press Conference 80th Venice Film Festival".
  8. "See Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny as Elvis and Priscilla Presley on Set of Sofia Coppola Movie". people.com.
  9. "Had a great shoot with Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi!". instagram.com.
  10. Tartaglione, Nancy (July 25, 2023). "Venice Film Festival Lineup: Mann, Lanthimos, Fincher, DuVernay, Cooper, Besson, Coppola, Hamaguchi In Competition; Polanski, Allen, Anderson, Linklater Out Of Competition – Full List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  11. Rubin, Rebecca (July 20, 2023). "Sofia Coppola's 'Priscilla' Set as New York Film Festival Centerpiece Selection". Variety. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  12. Kay, Jeremy (July 20, 2023). "Sofia Coppola's 'Priscilla' named Centerpiece selection at New York Film Festival". ScreenDaily.
  13. "VIFF: Galas & Special Presentations". VIFF.org. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  14. Canadian Press, The (September 6, 2023). "Sofia Coppola's Priscilla Presley biopic to play Vancouver film festival". Citynews Toronto. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
  15. Ramachandran, Naman (August 22, 2023). "Sofia Coppola's 'Priscilla' Acquired by Mubi for International Distribution". Variety. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  16. "Priscilla". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  17. "Priscilla". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  18. Barber, Nicholas (September 4, 2023). "Priscilla review: Sofia Coppola has directed a 'sympathetic tribute' to Elvis's wife". BBC Culture. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  19. "Venezia 80 Competition". La Biennale di Venezia. Retrieved August 12, 2023.
  20. Tartaglione, Nancy; Ntim, Zac (September 9, 2023). "Venice Winners: Golden Lion Goes To Yorgos Lanthimos For 'Poor Things'; Hamaguchi, Sarsgaard, Spaeny Also Score — Full List". Deadline. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  21. Lewis, Hilary (October 24, 2023). "'Past Lives,' 'A Thousand and One' and 'All of Us Strangers' Top Gotham Awards Film Nominees". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 25, 2023.
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