Warning: SPOILERS for Elvis
A big surprise in Elvis is how much the biopic references Star Trek so was the King of Rock & Roll a fan of Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy)? Directed by Baz Luhrmann, Elvis stars Austin Butler as Elvis Presley, whose life story is narrated by his manager, Col. Tom Parker (Tom Hanks). Elvis also stars Olivia DeJonge as Priscilla Presley, Richard Roxburgh as Elvis’ father, Vernon Presley, and Helen Thomson as Elvis’ mother, Gladys Presley.
Elvis is told in flashbacks through the memories of Col. Tom Parker, who narrates the story from his deathbed in 1997. Elvis depicts how Parker, who prided himself on being a “snowman” skilled at swindling people from their money at carnivals, learned of the young Elvis Presley, who was signed to Sun Records in the late 1950s. Presley grew up with African Americans in Tennessee and Elvis was able to fuse Black music with Country music to create his rock & roll sound. Elvis depicts how Parker took Presley under his wing and turned him into the biggest recording artist in America before they were forced to enlist Elvis in the Army for two years. While the singer served overseas, Elvis met the teenage Priscilla Beaulieu, who would become his wife and mother of their daughter, Lisa Marie. When Elvis resumed his career, he became a Hollywood movie star but the cultural changes of the 1960s passed him by. Parker masterminded Elvis becoming the resident headlining act of the International hotel and casino in Las Vegas, but the manager also trapped and abused his protege in order to pay off his gambling debts. Addicted to drugs and on a downward spiral, Elvis Presley died in August 1977 at the age of 42. Meanwhile, Star Trek repeatedly and curiously pops up throughout Elvis.
Star Trek appears in the opening minutes of Elvis, which shows a marquee for Star Trek: The Experience outside the International hotel, complete with a model of the Starship Enterprise that rockets into space. Star Trek: The Experience was an immersive featured attraction at the Las Vegas Hilton that opened in January 1998 and closed a decade later. However, this conflicts with Elvis‘ depiction because Col. Tom Parker died in January 1997, before Star Trek: The Experience opened. Further, Elvis sets Star Trek: The Experience at the International hotel but it was renamed the Las Vegas Hilton in 1971. (The hotel is now named the Westgate Hilton.) Likely because the film was unable to acquire the rights from Hilton Hotels, Elvis simply calls it the International for the entire film since Elvis Presley’s residence largely took place during the years the hotel was named the International.
The next time Star Trek is seen in Elvis is when Presley stars in a 1968 NBC Christmas special. As Elvis changes the plan for the special to perform his old hits and new material instead of Christmas carols, Col. Tom Parker leads sponsors from Singer sewing machines into the NBC control room. They pass framed photos of several Star Trek actors in costume, including William Shatner’s Captain Kirk, Leonard Nimoy’s Mr. Spock, and Nichelle Nichols’ Lt. Uhura. Afterward, Elvis is heartbroken by the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, who persuaded Nichols to remain in Star Trek when the actress intended to quit the show.
Presley loved comic books and science fiction growing up, and his favorite superhero was Captain Marvel Jr., who Elvis later modeled his on-stage look after. It’s no surprise that Elvis also loved Star Trek, and many actors who guest-starred on Gene Roddenberry’s show also worked with Elvis in his movies. Celeste Yarnall, who appeared in the Star Trek episode, “The Apple,” starred alongside Presley in Live a Little, Love a Little and was told by an excited Elvis that he named one of his horses ‘Star Trek.’ In real life, Elvis was a huge fan of Star Trek, so its inclusion in the Elvis movie is a fitting part of its tribute to the King of Rock & Roll.
