Home ›› 29 Jun 2022 ›› Show Biz
Warner Bros’ adult-skewing Elvis Presley biopic Elvis will battle holdover hit Top Gun: Maverick for the number one spot this weekend, with both films headed towards an estimated $31.1 million finish, reports Collider.
Directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Austin Butler, Elvis made $12.7 on its first Friday, including $3.5 million from Thursday previews.
Elvis’ solid opening signals a change in the fortunes for lengthy dramas directed at older audiences during the pandemic. By comparison, Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci made $14.4 million in its opening weekend, while Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story did $10.5 million. Like Elvis, both those films clocked in at over two-and-a-half hours long.
Many, however, are expecting Maverick to pull off yet another miraculous feat and finish at number one, although Paramount is still projecting a $30 million fifth weekend for the picture.
The movie itself was a typical explosion of colour and break-neck editing -- the 159-minute running time flying past -- as rising star Austin Butler, 30, stepped triumphantly into the blue suede shoes of Elvis Presley.
The biographical musical drama ‘Elvis’ premieres June 24 in US theaters, and is being released by Warner Bros. and stars, Austin Butler as Elvis Presley, with Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, Luke Bracey, Natasha Bassett, David Wenham, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Xavier Samuel, and Kodi Smit-McPhee in supporting roles.
The film premiered on this year’s Cannes and Cannes was shaken, rattled and rolled as the world premiere of ‘Elvis’ rocked the film festival on the French Riviera, in what has proven a vintage year for music-lovers.
