Priscilla won’t actually feature any Elvis music, and director Sofia Coppola now explains why her requests to use it were denied. Coming hot on the heels of 2022’s Elvis, which stars Austin Butler in the title role, Coppola’s upcoming A24 film is set to take a different approach, focusing instead on the life of Elvis’ wife Priscilla and her often stormy relationship with the King of Rock and Roll. The film is based on Priscilla’s 1985 book Elvis and Me, and Priscilla herself serves as an executive producer.
Ahead of the Priscilla release date this fall, Coppola reveals in a recent interview with THR that Elvis Presley Enterprises, the company that owns the rights to Elvis’ music, denied her request to use the King’s music in her movie. While this may seem like a major issue for production, the director explains that it resulted in some outside-the-box filmmaking decisions. Much of the music in the film, for example, is anachronistic, with Phoenix contributing heavily to the soundtrack in addition to a song from the Ramones. Check out Coppola’s comment below:
“They don’t like projects that they haven’t originated, and they’re protective of their brand. But that made us be more creative.”
Will No Elvis Music Hurt Priscilla?
Considering the impact and presence of Elvis’ music career during his relationship with Priscilla, it will be interesting to see whether a movie about their lives can succeed without it. Audiences interested in movies about Elvis, for example, may also be interested in his music, which could make it surprising and potentially disappointing when none of it shows up in the movie.
That being said, as Coppola suggests, it may actually be something of a blessing. The absence of any classic Elvis tunes may immediately give the film its own unique atmosphere, separating it from Baz Luhrmann’s hit biopic. Past period films that have used anachronistic music to great effect include Django Unchained, The Great Gatsby, and A Knight’s Tale, with each movie’s soundtrack helping it to stand out from similar types of projects.
It remains to be seen how Cailee Spaeny’s Priscilla and Jacob Elordi’s Elvis will be received by audiences and critics, but the use of anachronistic music for thematic or tonal effect could give Coppola’s film a timeless quality. The divisive Priscilla trailer has already teased Coppola’s creative use of music, and, at least so far, it doesn’t seem to be a major issue.
