Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis is still making waves at the box office despite being widely accessible via video on demand and the HBO Max streaming service. After almost two months in theatres, the maximalist music biopic has earned over $150 million. It has surpassed major releases including “Nope,” “Lightyear,” and “Uncharted” to become the year’s seventh highest-grossing picture so far. The picture has earned over $280 million worldwide and may end up with over $300 million.
It’s not over until the fat woman sings—or, in this case, until Tom Hanks’ Colonel Tom Parker dies. Elvis, one of Luhrmann’s many unconventional directorial choices, used the life of The King of Rock and Roll as a vehicle to depict the tale of America from the perspective of the controversial Colonel Parker. Although it had a great debut at the Cannes Film Festival and was generally well received, the film was criticised for being too long at 160 minutes and for Luhrmann’s use of a circular narrative structure.
However, almost everyone agreed that primary performer Austin Butler was a standout. The success of “Elvis” at the box office is good news for theatres in general, but it also gives mature viewers something to cheer about. From Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story to Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, 2017 was a terrible year for dramas aimed at adults. House of Gucci, Scott’s second picture, was the lone exception, grossing over $150 million worldwide against a projected $75 million budget, mostly due to Lady Gaga’s buzzworthy lead performance and its scandalous storyline. Elvis has already made back its projected $85 million budget, so the only question is how far it can go from here.
The picture is widely regarded as a top contender for Best Picture at this year’s Academy Awards, thus its popularity is likely to experience at least a temporary uptick during the following several months as a result of the awards season. After Bohemian Rhapsody, it has become the second-highest grossing music biopic worldwide, the highest-grossing Warner Bros. domestic title of the epidemic, and the second-highest grossing film of Luhrmann’s illustrious career. Even though the movie received mixed reviews upon its 2013 release, Australian director Baz Luhrmann’s opulent 3D production of The Great Gatsby nonetheless managed to gross over $350 million worldwide, thanks in large part to Leonardo DiCaprio’s popularity.
Warner Bros. made the right call in keeping the film rights to Elvis even as the virus spread (like Paramount did with Top Gun: Maverick). Whether or not the studio made the right decision in releasing Christopher Nolan’s Tenet is a topic for another day. Initially released on August 9 for Premium Digital Ownership and Video OnDemand rental, Elvis will also be available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on September 13. On September 2, the movie debuted on HBO Max.