Sofia Coppola confirmed that her film priscilla It will not have music by Elvis Presley. The film, which will debut at this year’s Venice film festival, is based on the memoir Elvis & Me, written by Priscilla Presley herself, and which recounts the turbulent relationship between her and the singer. Although it was thought that several hits of the “King of the rock’n’roll” would be heard in the footage, there was an obstacle that prevented this from happening.
During an interview for the cover story of the most recent issue of The Hollywood Reporter, Coppola mentioned that he did approach Elvis Presley Enterprises requesting permission to include several of the late performer’s music tracks in his project. But the company that protects the artist’s assets, including the rights to his recordings, rejected the request. These were the words of the director:
“They don’t like projects that don’t originate and protect their brand. But that made us more creative.”
With that last sentence, the filmmaker clarified that the rejection by Presley’s company did not delay production. On the contrary, she served as a push to find new ways to set the story to music.
The result was an anachronistic soundtrack, like the one used in another of his films, Marie Antoinette: Teenage Queen. The selection and interpretation of the tracks is in charge of Thomas Mars, the director’s husband, and her band Phoenix de ella. It will consist in covers of titles of rock classic, but with a much more current sound.
Why was the use of Elvis Presley’s music not authorized in priscilla, the movie? The company that controls the rights has not issued an official response, but it is known that they prefer to distance themselves from projects that do not tell their version of events. We will have to wait to see how the life of the interpreter is portrayed.
For now, if you want to know more about priscillaby Sofia Coppola, you can enter HERE.
Jose Roberto Landaverde I love writing, listening, reading and commenting on everything related to cinema. I love music and am a fan of The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac and Paramore. My favorite movies are Rocky and Back to the Future and obviously one day I’ll climb the “Philly Steps” and drive a DeLorean. Faithful believer that cinema is the best teleportation machine, and also that on the big screen we can all see ourselves represented.