Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis hit theaters last month and as far as biopics go, it was one for the ages. In fact, you can’t have a film about “The King” without going over-the-top theatrically, stylistically or musically. It’s one of the best films we’ve seen in a while. Moreover, it should continue to prove that going back to the theater is anything but mundane – it is an event!
The film finds Luhrmann reuniting with long time-collaborator, Elliot Wheeler, to help bring Elvis Aaron Presley’s music to the modern masses. After developing a shorthand with Luhrmann on The Great Gatsby and The Get Down, Wheeler returns with a unique dual role as both composer and executive music producer for Elvis; the collaborative musical storytelling began with script development and was interwoven into the way the story was created and told.
In a nearly 3-hour long film, there are 2 minutes without music in it – and about half of that is Wheeler’s score. Wanting an understated soundtrack that allowed the film’s epic musical numbers to shine, Baz and Elliot dove into “The King’s” expansive discography with Baz pulling songs for moments and themes in the film. Elliot mocked up the songs, recorded them, and found their orchestral flavors to act as score themes throughout the movie. He also worked with actor Austin Butler, helping him go on his journey as an incredible singer and working with him and the vocal coaches to analyze Elvis’ voice and movements to ensure his performance was as authentic and genuine as possible.
In our interview, Wheeler dove back into those experiences over the last five years working on this and offered plenty of production stories. He also reminded us of when Tom Hanks got Covid during the shoot. Thankfully, shutting down the picture for those three months helped make the film better to as it allowed to crew to hone in on certain elements of the production – from the script, to the edit, even Butler’s performance.
Wheeler loves music production but this once-in-a-lifetime film allowed him to offer 90+ minutes of score extrapolating specific melodies from beloved Presley classics to underscore the main characters. We’re just a hunk, a hunk of burning love for this stuff, so grab your Peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich as we get into the music of Elvis!!
Head to Elliot’s official website for more info about his current/future projects and his most excellent music.
