When Will Baz Luhrmman’s ‘Elvis’ Arrive on Streaming? Will It Be Available on HBO Max, Netflix?
No one does big-screen decadence quite like Baz Luhrmann, and the King of Glitz ‘n’ Glitter is back in theaters on Friday with the biopic “Elvis” chronicling the life of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. The film, which stars Austin Butler in the title role and Tom Hanks as his manager Colonel Tom Parker, currently has an 80% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is expected to gross more than $25 million on its opening weekend.
The movie originally began filming in January 2020, but had to shut down in March of that year as Hanks and wife Rita Wilson were amongst the earliest celebrities to be diagnosed with COVID-19. The film resumed shooting in Australia in September 2020 before eventually wrapping in March 2021. Butler was recommended for the role by Denzel Washington, beating out the likes of Ansel Elgort, Miles Teller, and Harry Styles.
Related: Sling TV Launches Free Elvis Presley Channel
Through a framing device of Parker recalling the past half-century while on his deathbed, the film follows Elvis from his poverty-ridden childhood in Memphis to his rise as one of the early stars of rock ‘n’ roll to becoming the biggest celebrity in the world. Elvis then developed an addiction to prescription drugs, his marriage fell apart, and he died of a heart attack in 1977.
Elvis
The life story of Elvis Presley as seen through the complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
The film stars Austin Butler as Elvis and Tom Hanks as Parker. Baz Luhrmann (“Moulin Rouge!”, “Romeo + Juliet”) directs.
While the film is trending to do better in its opening weekend than other recent music biopics “Rocketman” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” there is still no guarantee at this point in the pandemic that people will leave their homes to see a movie, especially with so much incredible content available on streaming.
So, the question becomes, when will Baz, Elvis, and those famous blue suede shoes be coming to a streaming service near you? Let’s break that down.
The film is being distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, which means that it will eventually be available on the studio’s corporate sibling streamer HBO Max. Last fall, it was announced that Warner Bros. films would arrive on the streaming service following a 45-day theatrical window, so if that holds, “Elvis” will come to HBO Max sometime on, or after, Aug. 8 of this year.
That would put the film’s release on a Monday, but that usually isn’t the ideal day to drop a movie on a streaming service. HBO Max recently announced that they would be bringing “The Bob’s Burgers Movie” to the platform on Tuesday, July 12 a full 46 days after it debuted in cinemas.
So, our semi-educated guess would be that you will be able to swivel your hips, curl your lip, and shake, rattle, and roll with the king on HBO Max on Tuesday, Aug. 9.
Max
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