Baz Luhrmann’s ‘EPIC: Elvis Presley in Concert’ Rocks IMAX & Future Plans

Baz Luhrmann is back in the concert film business, and this time, he’s not just telling a story – he’s letting Elvis Presley tell his own. “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” which opened exclusively in IMAX theaters this weekend before expanding to wider release on February 27, isn’t a retread of the King’s well-documented life, but a deep dive into what Luhrmann considers Presley’s artistic zenith: his early 1970s Las Vegas residency.

The film, built around newly restored footage unearthed after decades in a salt mine, is already proving a draw. Initial weekend results saw an average of $10,000 per screen in 325 IMAX theaters, the highest of any film currently playing, according to reports. While unlikely to match the $151 million domestic gross of Luhrmann’s 2022 biopic, “Elvis,” the strong opening signals a continued appetite for the King, particularly when presented through the lens of a filmmaker known for his maximalist style.

Luhrmann, speaking via Zoom from his creative facility in Australia, emphasized the film’s focus on capturing the raw energy of Presley’s live performances. “Our big focus is to make a theatrical cinematic experience, and to make it feel as much as possible like you’re actually in the audience and your experience of Elvis is kind of unfiltered,” he explained. He’s personally embarked on a series of international IMAX unveilings, from the Gold Coast to London and Los Angeles, urging audiences to experience the film on the biggest screen possible.

The journey to “EPiC” began during the production of the “Elvis” biopic. Luhrmann and his editor, John O. Redmond, learned of the existence of 69 boxes of previously unseen footage from Presley’s 1970s concerts and rehearsals. Initially, the plan wasn’t to create a separate film. “I didn’t go there, but it’s literally in the salt mines in Kansas City where the negatives of the whole MGM collection are kept so that they don’t rot,” Luhrmann said. “We thought, maybe we can use some of these extra reels as supplementary footage.” But the sheer volume of material – 59 hours of concert footage, 8mm film, and, crucially, 50 minutes of previously unheard audio of Presley reflecting on his life – quickly changed that plan.

“We had this audio… of Elvis just talking about his life in a way in which you really never hear him talk,” Luhrmann explained. “So all the way through making ‘Elvis,’ we said, ‘We’ve got to do something.’” The challenge then became restoring the footage to IMAX quality and, even more difficult, locating the original audio tracks. “Sometimes we had people in car parks in the middle of the night trading bootleg stuff,” Luhrmann admitted, acknowledging the vast and dedicated Elvis bootleg industry. He credits Peter Jackson and his team at Park Road Post Production, known for their work restoring The Beatles’ “Get Back” footage, with providing the technical expertise to bring the decades-old material back to life.

The resulting film isn’t simply a re-packaging of existing concert films like “That’s the Way We see” and “Elvis on Tour.” Luhrmann aims to present a more intimate and revealing portrait of Presley, allowing him to narrate his own story. “We just let Elvis tell his story — sing it and tell it to you — almost like in a dreamscape,” he said. The film incorporates not only concert footage but also candid moments of Presley rehearsing, interacting with his band, and even sharing backstage conversations with fellow performers like Sammy Davis Jr. And Cary Grant.

Luhrmann is particularly keen to challenge the common perception of Presley’s later years, often characterized by the iconic white jumpsuit and a perceived decline in artistic quality. “What gets lost is that when he first did that show, everyone expected him to do a nostalgia show, but he was totally on the cutting edge,” he argued. “The white suit doesn’t come till 1970, because that’s when they film it.” He points to Presley’s willingness to experiment with different genres, covering songs by The Beatles and Bob Dylan, as evidence of his continued artistic vitality.

The film also features a new poem about Presley written and performed by Bono, a longtime admirer of the King. Luhrmann described the collaboration as a natural fit, noting Bono’s own history of incorporating Elvis into his work, referencing U2’s song “The Unforgettable Fire.”

Beyond the film itself, Luhrmann is already looking ahead to the next phase of the Elvis revival. He confirmed that a stage musical adaptation of the “Elvis” story is in development. And, of course, he remains deeply immersed in his long-gestating Joan of Arc project, a film he describes as equally ambitious and personal. “I’m so deep in it,” he said. “The reason I’m shooting this corner of my atelier is because the rest of it is just plastered with story structure and script.”

For Luhrmann, the journey with Elvis has become more than just a filmmaking project; it’s a mission to reclaim and re-evaluate the legacy of an American icon. “I wanted to take the trope, shake off the rust and help guide and reveal Elvis for the artist that he is,” he said. “And the impact that he had on culture and on America as a whole. And the world.”