Elvis: Austin Butler's Early Test Footage Shows Off Actor's Singing Ability

By Jamie Jirak

Baz Luhrmann, director of Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, has a new Elvis biopic hitting theatres later this month, and the film has the seal of approval from the late icon's family. Elvis is being released by Warner Bros. and features Once Upon a Time in Hollywood's Austin Butler as Elvis Presley as well as Tom Hanks as Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker. Earlier this year, the first trailer for the upcoming film was released, and Elvis' ex-wife, Priscilla Presley, recently took to Facebook to reveal she's seen the movie. Today, Elvis' granddaughter, Riley Keough, took to Instagram to share a video of Butler testing for the role. 

"One of the most remarkable parts to me about @elvismovie that people may not know (because he's done such an fantastic job) is that @austinbutler is singing all of the early Elvis vocals himself. @bazluhrmann shared this clip today from an early screen test of Austin that I wanted to repost because what he was able to do is just so beautiful," Keough wrote. You can check out the video below:

Elvis "explores the life and music of Elvis Presley (Butler), seen through the prism of his complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Hanks)," reads the synopsis from Warner Bros. "The story delves into the complex dynamic between Presley and Parker spanning over 20 years, from Presley's rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and loss of innocence in America. Central to that journey is one of the most significant and influential people in Elvis's life, Priscilla Presley (Olivia DeJonge)." 

"I love biopics, but this is not really a biopic, right? It's really about, for me, America in the 50s and the 60s and the 70s," Luhrmann previously explained. "And if you want to talk about America in the 50s and 60s and the 70s at the center of culture, for the good, the bad, and the ugly, is a figure [like] Elvis Presley. Like how Shakespeare would take a historical figure like a king and explore a big theme, or Amadeus isn't really about Mozart when you learn so much about Mozart, it's about jealousy. What this movie is about is America in those three epochs — Elvis the rebel, Elvis the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, and Elvis the living legend, the icon trapped in that hotel not 10 minutes from here, by a man called Colonel Tom Parker."

Elvis opens in theaters on June 24. 

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