Based on the memoir Elvis and Me, published in 1985, Priscilla by Sofia Coppola works alongside Priscilla Presley to make her overshadowed story come to light. Starring names like Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi, the biopic and its crew have already been nominated for nine awards.
Based on Priscilla Presley’s accounts of her life, she writes of her and Elvis’ introductions from when she was just 14 to the moments that led to their relationship and divorce in the early 70’s. Naturally creating controversy, the late Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’s daughter, publicly denounced the project last November. Calling the production shockingly vengeful and contemptuous, Lisa Marie privately emailed the Director, and Variety magazine obtained said messages late last year.
“My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative. As his daughter, I don’t read this and see any of my father in this character. I don’t read this and see my mother’s perspective of my father. I read this and see your shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective, and I don’t understand why?” Presley wrote in one of her messages.
Despite the backlash, Coppola went through with the biopic with Priscilla Presley as an executive producer, and an otherwise successful filming process. The release on October 27th made $4.8 million opening weekend, and has been steadily making more since then.