The movie audience was not cruel to Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” last night.
The two and a half hour spectacular starring Tom Hanks and Austin Butler brought in $9 million for a total opening including previews of $12 million.
The movie is headed to a $30 million opening weekend.
Some carped that it was too long, and certainly the supporting characters are under developed. But Elvis and Colonel Parker are the main draw and Luhrmann has made them an exciting duo and put them center stage.
Plus, the look of the film, and Butler’s amazing performances are enough to keep any crowd interested in Elvis seated for the whole time.
Warner Bros. did a great job with marketing and publicity. And now they’ll see a pay off. “Elvis” should have a good run all summer and come back for Oscars in the winter.
The movie starts with 20 dazzling minutes, goes into a lull for a bit, and then kicks into hyper driver with Elvis in Vegas. Yes, the mid 60s are skipped, but Elvis skipped them in real life, too. (Including all his movies in detail would have added an extra half hour to the already lengthy film!)
So viva Baz, we’ll see tomorrow what the final numbers are.
