When “Elvis” hit theaters in 2022, it was among the year’s most acclaimed films, nominated for eight Oscars (ultimately winning none), including best picture and best actor, for star Austin Butler in the title role. The following year, “Priscilla” premiered, based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir “Elvis and Me.”
Long before the movie’s debut, Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, took issue with the script. The news didn’t emerge until late 2023 when Variety obtained emails that Lisa Marie had sent “Priscilla” director Sofia Coppola in September of 2022. In the emails, she expressed her outrage over the way her father was depicted.
“My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative,” Lisa Marie wrote, insisting that Coppola twisted what her mother had written in her book. “As his daughter, I don’t read this and see any of my father in this character,” she continued. “I don’t read this and see my mother’s perspective of my father. I read this and see your shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective and I don’t understand why?” In addition, Lisa Marie threatened that she would publicly trash the film when it came out if Coppola did not adequately address her concerns. “I will be forced to be in a position where I will have to openly say how I feel about the film and go against you, my mother, and this film publicly,” she added.
