During his research for the 2022 Elvis Presley biopic, director Baz Luhrmann unearthed whispers of a vast, unseen collection of film. This hidden treasure, originally shot by MGM for the 1970 concert film ‘Elvis: That’s the Way It Is’ and its 1972 sequel ‘Elvis on Tour,’ immediately captivated him. Luhrmann initially considered using this existing footage of Presley’s Vegas performances to avoid constructing elaborate sets for his own film.
However, what began as a simple inquiry soon transformed into a multi-year dedication to rescue and restore this invaluable archive. The culmination of this monumental effort is the groundbreaking new documentary, ‘EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,’ set to debut in IMAX theaters nationwide this Friday.
The remarkable journey to revive Elvis’s legacy literally started in an underground salt mine in Kansas. Luhrmann, speaking from his Australian office, emphasized that this isn’t merely a figure of speech. These deep, secure vaults are precisely where major studios, including Warner Bros. (the current owner of this particular footage), store their precious archival materials—a service that comes with a significant cost.
Luhrmann personally covered the exorbitant fee—$100,000 just for exploration—to send researchers into the subterranean archive. Their astonishing discovery wasn’t just a few reels, but 69 boxes filled with film. This haul included 35-millimeter footage from multiple Vegas performances for ‘That’s the Way It Is,’ alongside 16-millimeter film from backstage moments and ‘Elvis on Tour’ concert segments.
However, the footage was in disarray: mislabeled, partially stolen, and corroded by dust. Adding to the challenge, as Jonathan Redmond, editor and executive producer of ‘EPiC’ and Luhrmann’s long-term collaborator, explained from Los Angeles, there were 59 hours of silent film. “Film and sound are recorded and archived separately,” Redmond noted, “so we had incredible visuals but no idea what Elvis was singing.”
Despite its perplexing condition, the sheer magic of the footage enthralled the team. Redmond declared to Luhrmann, “We must do something extraordinary with this; we cannot simply return it to the salt mines.”
Luhrmann concurred, envisioning it as a unique “companion piece” to his biopic.
The immediate task, ironically, was to complete the biopic itself. While Luhrmann and Redmond finalized ‘Elvis,’ Warner Bros. embarked on a 4K scan of the newly recovered raw footage. Assistant editor Jim Greco tirelessly worked to synchronize it with every possible sound recording. Complementing this, Angie Marchese, Vice President of Archives and Exhibits for Graceland, contributed additional, largely unseen 8-millimeter and Super-8 home movie footage.
The real turning point, as Luhrmann recounted, came with the discovery of a rare audio interview. One morning, after a late night of gospel singing, Presley had granted the ‘Elvis on Tour’ filmmakers an audio-only interview, offering an unusually open and frank discussion about his life and career.
Redmond noted that while their extensive research meant they were already familiar with Elvis’s story, hearing it directly from him, in his own voice, provided an unparalleled depth and authenticity. This pivotal audio became the ‘Rosetta Stone’ for the entire project.
This breakthrough interview gave Luhrmann clarity on the project’s direction. They weren’t interested in simply creating another concert film, nor merely updating previous films like ‘That’s the Way It Is’ (which had already been re-released with new footage in 2001). Another standard biographical documentary, à la ‘This Is Elvis’ from 1981, was also off the table.
Luhrmann explained, “While those documentaries are good, they consistently feature people talking about Elvis, rather than Elvis himself.” This inspired Luhrmann and Redmond to craft a unique blend: part concert film, part biographical documentary, and part surreal ‘dreamscape.’ Luhrmann envisioned a film “where Elvis comes to you in your dream and sings and tells your story like never before” – a truly immersive and personal experience.
This ambitious vision necessitated an exhaustive search for even more high-quality footage, interviews, and concert film, all to meet the demanding standards of an IMAX release. Redmond clarified, “Our goal was to find film backing for every piece of archival material, even going back to the 1950s to source and scan original film from various vendors.”
Their commitment to authentic film and sound often led them down unconventional paths. Luhrmann humorously recounted, “We even pieced together some bootleg audio, literally meeting people in car parks to acquire it. The world of illegal Elvis trading is intense; I’d almost prefer dealing with Colombian drug lords!”
Luhrmann wasn’t concerned by minor gaps in instrumentation, choosing instead to rescore and rerecord these segments. This artistic decision perfectly aligned with the film’s overarching concept.
Luhrmann contrasted his approach with Peter Jackson’s Beatles docuseries, ‘Get Back.’ He explained, “While ‘Get Back’ excels as a fly-on-the-wall experience, we aimed for something entirely different: an imagined concert where diverse elements converge simultaneously.” Despite this divergence in narrative style, the filmmakers enthusiastically enlisted Jackson and his WingNut Films for their renowned expertise in image restoration, a skill honed on projects like ‘Get Back’ and the World War I documentary ‘They Shall Not Grow Old.’
Redmond lauded Jackson as the “gold standard of film restoration,” noting that early in the process, they recognized the potential to elevate their already impressive footage to its absolute best.
Crucially, Luhrmann firmly stated that the restoration was purely analog: “I want to emphasize, there isn’t a single frame of A.I. in this, nor any visual effects. The only ‘visual effect’ in this film is the profound impact Elvis himself had on his audiences.”
After years dedicated to this dual-film exploration of Elvis Presley (even rebuilding the iconic Vegas showroom, despite some recovered footage making the cut), Luhrmann and Redmond believe they’ve made a significant contribution to the ongoing cultural discourse surrounding the King. For them, the core inquiry was always: Who was Elvis Presley, truly? Redmond cited their guiding principle: ‘In the cracks, you see the light,’ a sentiment particularly resonant for a figure as constantly scrutinized by cameras as Elvis.
Luhrmann quoted Elvis himself from the documentary: “It’s very hard to live up to an image. A human being is one thing and an image is another.” For the director, this meant truly understanding Elvis Presley required engaging with both the man and the legend. “I hope these two films present the mask—because we adore seeing the iconic Elvis—but also gently remove it,” Luhrmann concluded. “That was my ultimate goal.”