How The Presley Family Really Felt About The Movies Elvis And Priscilla

Having an undeniable music icon as a family member can certainly make it hard to avoid the limelight, especially if that family member was Elvis Presley. Celebrated director Sofia Coppola's 2023 film "Priscilla" was a nuanced study of the dynamics at play within such a relationship, and it caused quite a stir for the rest of the Presley family. In particular, the late Lisa Marie Presley — the "Suspicious Minds" singer's daughter — seemed to take issue with the film before it even went into production.

The movie was based on Priscilla's 1985 memoir "Elvis and Me," which traces the couple's relationship from the time they met in 1959. Priscilla was only 14 years old at the time, a decade younger than Elvis, who was 24. In a series of emails, Lisa Marie pleaded with the "Bling Ring" director to reconsider the perspective the film seemed destined to take. "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," Lisa Marie wrote in one email (via Variety). "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?"

Lisa Marie also expressed concern about the filmmakers taking advantage of her mother. "I feel protective over my mother who has spent her whole life elevating my father's legacy. I am worried she doesn't understand the intentions behind this film or the outcome it will have," she wrote. It seems Lisa Marie Presley had a different interpretation of the script than her mother, the titular Priscilla Presley, who is well-known for her relationship with the celebrated rock musician. "I think it's right on, to be honest with you," Priscilla said, noting that she trusted Coppola to tell the story accurately (via Entertainment Weekly). "She has such a big heart and her father is very famous and she really connected with me. I have no problems with what she did in any way ... She is for women, and when she approached me about doing a movie about me, I was moved by it."

While the late Lisa Marie Presley wasn't so keen on "Priscilla," before her death she did make it clear she was a big fan of Baz Lurhmann's 2022 film "Elvis" starting actor Austin Butler. "I'm so overwhelmed by this film and the effect that it's had and what Baz has done, what Austin has done," Lisa Marie said at a pre-premiere party just days before her death. "I'm so proud. And I know that my father would also be very proud." Her mother Priscilla Presley also gushed about "Elvis," writing in a post on Instagram that Lisa Marie assured her that Riley Keough — Lisa Marie's daughter and Priscilla's granddaughter — would also love it. "I relived every moment in this film. It took me a few days to overcome the emotions as it did with Lisa. Beautifully done," she wrote.

Both Lurhmann's "Elvis" and Coppola's "Priscilla" explore power dynamics and often leave audiences questioning how glamorous stardom truly is. It is interesting that Presley took such a harsh view of the film, considering it was based on Priscilla's memoir "Elvis and Me" and was being made with the permission of Priscilla herself. Of course, Sofia Coppola is a director known for getting under the skin of her audience and playing in the shadows of relationship dynamics.

"The Virgin Suicides" director had hoped Lisa Marie would change her mind. "I hope that when you see the final film you will feel differently, and understand I'm taking great care in honoring your mother, while also presenting your father with sensitivity and complexity," Coppola wrote to Lisa Marie (per Variety). Unfortunately, Lisa Marie Presley passed away on Jan. 12, 2023, long before the film premiered in October of that year, so we'll never know if she might've changed her mind about the project.