Inspired by his effort to turn his movie 'Australia' into a TV series 'Faraway Downs', Baz Luhrmann is mulling over the idea of doing similar thing with the Elvis Presley biopic.
- Dec 6, 2023
AceShowbiz - Baz Luhrmann welcomes the idea of making an expanded version of "Elvis". The 61-year-old filmmaker has developed an extended edition of his 2008 film "Australia" in the TV series "Faraway Downs" and revealed that he would consider doing the same thing with his biopic that starred Austin Butler as the King of Rock and Roll.
"With 'Elvis', it's almost impossible to believe how big a life he lived in such a short period of time, for someone who died very early into his 40s," Baz said to Collider. "When I shot it, I absolutely shot quite the epic version of it, and it's on record, me saying that there's a four-hour cut."
"So, while the version that's out there in the cinema played very, very well, not this year and maybe not next year, and maybe I won't do it, but I do know that there's a long-play version of that story that would definitely go down the same road as I did on this."
Baz has been surprised at the level of interest in "Faraway Downs" and thinks the same experiment could be applied to his other work - which includes "Romeo + Juliet" and "Moulin Rouge!".
He said, "It's really amazing how much there is in it, from press and from people. People are so interested in what the difference between 'Australia' and 'Faraway Downs' is and what I've done. So, I don't know, but there's an energy around it, for sure."
Luhrmann never feels that any of his movies are perfect but fears that he will "ruin" them if he does not relinquish creative control. He said of his films, "I know when they're working, but I don't think any of them are perfect. If you didn't take them away from me, I'd probably still work on them and probably ruin them, really. It's a bit like a parent who over-parents."
