If in 2022 Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, starring Austin Butler, restored a bit of glamour to Elvis Presley’s legacy, then EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, out now in IMAX, brings the whimsy. In the new film—which, by Luhrmann’s description, is neither a documentary, exactly, nor a concert film (though it has elements of both)—Presley has arrived at the International Hotel for what will, unbeknownst to him, turn into a seven-year residency. It’s around 1969 and he’s 34, still in his prime.
What makes up most of EPiC’s jam-packed 90-minute runtime is footage—recorded by MGM for two early ’70s concert films, and then left to rot in a salt mine in Kansas—of Presley in rehearsals and then on stage, where he runs through a repertoire that includes his greatest hits (“Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock”), some new material (“Burning Love”), covers (“Yesterday,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water”), and gospel songs (“How Great Thou Art,” “Oh Happy Day”). It’s an amazing showcase, underscoring the range of his musical tastes (and beauty of his voice); the lunacy of his fans, who fling themselves into his path at every opportunity; and, possibly more than anything, his endearing goofiness, both in public and behind the scenes.
We spoke to Luhrmann about his collaborators on the new film, the magic tricks he employed for the soundtrack, and deciding to let Presley speak for himself.
Vogue: To start, I’d love to know how or when you landed on the genius title for this project.
Baz Luhrmann: Yeah, you think, why didn’t someone else come up with that before? Jonathan Redmond and I were partners in this, and to be honest, I just know we were riffing around ideas—Elvis something, Elvis in Concert. The acronym might’ve been Jonathan, it might’ve been me, it could’ve been Fletch. We had a thread with everybody on it, a group chat, and we were calling it things like Elvis Walks in the Park or something. I said, “Well, what about Elvis Presley Concert or Elvis Presley’s Concert?” And then we went, “Hang on—that’s EPIC. Great title for the movie!”
Peter Jackson, I know, helped you to restore the footage you found. His Get Back documentary about the Beatles was such a moment. Did you watch that at the time? Was that a point of reference?