It’s already been ten years since Elvis Presley’s life last got the small-screen treatment. Back in 2005, Jonathan Rhys Meyers swiveled and sneered his way through a CBS miniseries about Presley’s rise to super-stardom. It was an underwhelming production, but Meyers went on to play a different king and American. (Okay, so that last one’s a stretch.) The latest endeavor to adapt Presley’s story for TV has some high-profile backers: Empire Magazine reports that Harvey Weinstein and Priscilla Presley are collaborating on a limited series about the rock star.
The new biopic series will have access to Elvis’ archives and also draw from Dave Marsh’s extensively researched 1982 book Elvis. The project hasn’t been shopped around to networks yet, but it will be the first such production to film at Graceland. Presley tells Empire she’s a fan of Weinstein’s independent film, and looks forward to working with him to “tell the story of how Elvis changed the culture of music and initiated a revolution that changed the world.” Weinstein’s just as thrilled:
To this day, Elvis is one of the few that lives up to the word ‘icon’. He is one of the most celebrated entertainers of all time whose influence surpasses the music he created. People’s fascination with his story goes beyond the stage and this biopic will pay homage to his brilliant legacy and give viewers an in-depth look at how he became The King.