Baz Luhrmann to Direct Elvis Documentary
Baz Luhrmann, the director of the movie “Elvis” starring Austin Butler is putting together a documentary film on the life of the King, drawing from some never-before-seen footage of Elvis that he unearthed while making his feature. It is believe Luhrmann has access to outtake footage that was used for both Elvis concert documentaries ‘Elvis: That’s The Way It Is’ and ‘Elvis On Tour’.
The film will be directed and produced by Luhrmann for Authentic Studios, a still nascent production banner within Authentic Brands Group that is aiming to develop movies and series based on the many brands and it represents and manages, among them material from the Presley archive.
Marc Rosen, Authentic’s president of entertainment confirmed the work on the film however no other details about the documentary were available at present, but the film would be Luhrmann’s non-fiction debut.
As the Authentic execs became involved in major Hollywood productions based on those names, brands and titles (including the Warner Bros. film “Elvis”) they decided they should produce them too. Authentic Studios was launched in 2023, and is made up of four production units: David Beckham’s Studio 99 (run by president Nicola Howson), Shaquille O’Neal’s Jersey Legends, Authentic Productions and SI Studios.
“What we discovered is that people really wanted our intellectual property, our brands for various documentaries, feature film projects, you name it,” said Authentic president of entertainment Marc Rosen. “The realization for us was that we should create and take this all in house, instead of licensing our IP to somebody else for them to control the product and make the lion’s share of the economics.”
Authentic also has an “Elvis Evolution” experience installation in the works for London. Some of its other figures it represents include Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali, and many other fashion line brands like Brooks Brothers, Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand, and more.
Following “Elvis” in 2022, Luhrmann re-cut his 2008 film “Australia” and turned it into a Hulu series called “Faraway Downs” that was released last year. “Elvis” turned out to be the breakout role for star Austin Butler, who portrayed the King, and the film was nominated for eight Oscars and brought in $288 million at the global box office.