23/08/2023 - Playing in the main competition and sold internationally by The Match Factory, the picture is based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, co-authored by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon

Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, Somewhere, The Virgin Suicides) will present her latest effort, Priscilla [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], at the upcoming edition of the Venice Film Festival, running from 30 August-9 September (see the news).

The 110-minute feature, penned by the director herself and based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, co-authored by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon, is being sold internationally (excluding Italy and North America) by The Match Factory. Ahead of its world premiere on the Lido, MUBI has acquired rights across multiple territories – the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Latin America, the Benelux region and Turkey.

The official synopsis published by The Match Factory reads as follows: “When the teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend. Through Priscilla’s eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla’s long courtship and turbulent marriage, from a German army base to his dream-world estate at Graceland, in this deeply felt and ravishingly detailed portrait of love, fantasy and fame.”

Cailee Spaeny (Mare of Easttown, Bad Times at the El Royale) is attached to play the title role, whilst Jacob Elordi (Euphoria, The Kissing Booth) will star as Elvis Presley. Dagmara Dominczyk (Succession) is also confirmed as one of the main cast members.

On this project, Coppola worked once more with some of her long-time collaborators: DoP Philippe Le Sourd, costume designer Stacey Battat, editor Sarah Flack and production designer Tamara Deverell.

Priscilla was produced by Lorenzo Mieli for The Apartment Pictures (Italy, a Fremantle company), Sofia Coppola for American Zoetrope (USA) and Youree Henley, with financing from Fremantle Group. A24 will distribute it in the USA, whilst Vision Distribution will do likewise in Italy.

MUBI will come to the Lido brandishing two more co-productions: Michel Franco’s competition title Memory and Turner Ross’s Gasoline Rainbow, playing in the Orizzonti strand of the gathering.