After many week of speculation,  Austin Butler is officially playing Elvis Presley in the Baz Luhrmann biopic.  The film also stars Tom Hanks as Col. Tom Parker.  The biopic will cover the Presley’s journey to be coming a legend in music, with focus on Elvis’ relation with Parker. Deadline reports, the film will begin shooting next year in Queensland, Australia.

Butler beat out the likes of  Harry Styles, Ansel Elgort, and Miles Teller to play Presley.   Butler’s credits include The Shannara Chronicles, CW’s Arrow, and many more television appearances. He is currently co-starring in The Dead Don’t Die and will be in the upcoming Quentin Tarantino‘s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. 

Luhrmann took his time making his selection, telling Deadline, “Throughout the casting process, it was an honor for me to encounter such a vast array of talent. I had heard about Austin Butler from his stand-out role opposite Denzel Washington in The Iceman Cometh on Broadway, and through a journey of extensive screen testing and music and performance workshops, I knew unequivocally that I had found someone who could embody the spirit of one of the world’s most iconic musical figures.”

Luhrmann wrote the screenplay with Craig Pearce.  He will direct and produce the film with Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss. Andrew Mittman will executive produce.

The Elvis Presley biopic does not have a title or release date yet.  

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