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American actor Austin Butler has amazed fans with his incredible transformation as Elvis Presley in the upcoming film Elvis.
On February 17, production company Warner Bros. dropped the first trailer of Baz Luhrmann's directorial musical biopic, where the 30-year-old portrays the role of the "King of Rock and Roll" alongside Tom Hanks, who plays Presley's larger-than-life manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
As a press release states, the musical, which releases on June 24, will explore the life and music of Elvis Presley and his difficult relationship with his manager Tom Parker.
The press release further states that the story explores Presley and Parker's complex relationship over the course of 20 years, spanning Presley's rise to fame until he achieved unheard-of stardom, all against the backdrop of the changing cultural landscape and loss of innocence in America.
Yes, Austin Butler can sing
The 3-minute, 15-second trailer features Butler as Presley performing the latter's famous songs like Suspicious Minds, Heartbreak Hotel, Jailhouse Rock, and Unchained Melody.
As per Hollywood Reporter, a virtual press conference featured Austin Butler discussing the overwhelming task of embodying the music legend, who died in 1977 at 42 years of age.
“When I began the process, I set out to get my voice to be identical. That instills fear. So that got the fire burning. For a year before we started shooting, I was doing voice coaching.”
The film's director Luhrmann emphasized that Butler's voice was used for young Elvis and a mixture of Butler's voice and tapes of Presley's voice for midlife Elvis.
Adding further on his character journey, Butler said he watched as many films, concerts, documentaries, and videos "over and over" to get the essence of Presley.
“I feel such a responsibility to Elvis and to [ex-wife] Priscilla and [daughter] Lisa Marie, and all the people around the world who love him so much.”
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Baz Luhrmann revealed he was incredibly impressed with Austin Butler's work in the film and felt like his performance in the film will prove very beneficial for his career.
When asked if the musical would make Butler a megastar, the 59-year-old director said that he wouldn't, but Butler himself would make him a superstar.
"He is phenomenal in the movie. I don't usually say anything about the performances in my movies, but he is phenomenal."
Twitter reacts to Austin Butler's remarkable transformation as Elvis Presley
Within minutes of the trailer's release, fans took to their Twitter handles to express their amazement after watching Butler's legendary role. Most of them are already rooting for Butler for the upcoming Oscar season.
Even filmmaker Kevin Smith expressed his excitement about the upcoming film.
Elvis took two years to shoot due to the coronavirus pandemic. Aside from Butler and Hanks, the film also stars Olivia DeJonge, Kodi Smit-McPhee, David Wenham, Dacre Montgomery, Natasha Bassett, and Christopher Sommers in key roles.
