'Priscilla' opens Friday: Here's what to know about Sofia Coppola's Presley biopic

"Priscilla," writer-director Sofia Coppola's presentation of the courtship and married life of Priscilla Ann Wagner Beaulieu Presley and the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, opens Friday.

The date is about 13 months after the movie was announced to the press, and almost two months to the day after its star-studded Sept. 3 world premiere at the prestigious Venice International Film Festival — a selection that testifies to Coppola's reputation and to the continued interest in all things Presley.

Here are five things to know about this latest dramatized screen portrayal of a story that is almost American myth.

Where can I see 'Priscilla'?

In the Memphis area (Elvis' old stomping grounds), the movie opens Friday, Nov. 3, at the Atoka CinePlanet 16, Collierville, DeSoto, Olive Branch, Paradiso, Powerhouse, Ridgeway and Stage cinemas.

In other words, it won't be hard to find. Even so, "Priscilla," like its real-life inspiration, is a relative wallflower next to "Elvis." Largely shot in Toronto (where Graceland was recreated, on set), Coppola's $20 million "art film" will have modest availability compared to that of its blockbuster biopic predecessor, Baz Luhrmann's $150 million to make-and-market "Elvis," which opened June 24, 2022, on 3,906 screens in North America and went on to gross $288 million worldwide.

Locally, "Priscilla" arrives with no more fanfare than the weekend's other new releases, such as "What Happens Later," a romantic comedy with Meg Ryan. "Elvis," in contrast, was heralded with a Memphis press junket that invited reporters from around the world to join Luhrmann, Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley, and most of the cast, including title star Austin Butler and Tom Hanks, who played Elvis' manger, "Colonel" Tom Parker, for a screening and interviews at Graceland.

Why another Elvis movie, so soon?

Maybe because this isn't really an Elvis movie, it's a Priscilla movie? "Baz and I... approach filmmaking so differently that I feel there was space," Coppola said during a virtual press conference Tuesday. She said Luhrmann's film was "about Elvis as the performer, outward," while her movie "is really kind of the flipside... Priscilla's story... and looking at him in a more intimate way... the scale of it is done in a more intimate way." (In fact, Priscilla Presley is a relatively minor character in the Luhrmann film.)

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Coppola said Elvis is "a god-like figure in our culture and history," but in Priscilla Presley's book, he is "human," with "incredible charm and lovability and then also this dark side." She said her movie will depict the courtship and marriage as "the complex relationship that it was."

Why isn't Elvis music in 'Priscilla'?

No Elvis recordings were licensed for "Priscilla." Joel Weinshanker, majority owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, has said the estate would not allow Elvis music to be used in the film because the movie, which does not always depict the King in a flattering light, was not a project "that Elvis would be proud of."

However, it seems unlikely that Coppola wanted to use Elvis songs in the first place. The director favors what she calls "melodramatic" songs for her films — recordings that convey a mood, even if they seem alien to the historic period recreated onscreen. For example, Coppola's "Marie Antoinette" (2006), largely set in late 18th-century Paris, is scored with post-punk songs by The Cure and Gang of Four, while "Priscilla" uses sometimes anachronistic music by Alice Coltrane, the Ramones, Tommy James and the Shondells.

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Is 'Priscilla' a remake?

Yes and no. Coppola adapted "Priscilla" from the nonfiction book "Elvis and Me," a 1985 best-seller credited to "Priscilla Beaulieu Presley with Sandra Harmon." Subtitled "The True Story of the Love Between Priscilla Presley and the King of Rock N' Roll," the book was adapted by ABC into a 4-hour two-parter in 1988 that was the season's highest-rated television movie. Susan Walters portrayed Priscilla, while Dale Midkiff was Elvis.

The new movie's leads are Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla and Jacob Elordi as Elvis, whose height disparity is greater even than the gap between the 5-foot-4 Priscilla and the 6-foot Elvis: Spaeny stands at 5-1, while Elordi is 6-5. The age difference is another matter: Elvis was 10 years older than his bride, but Elordi is only one year older than Spaeny.

Does Priscilla like 'Priscilla'?

Elvis Presley Enterprises may not approve, but Elvis Presley's one and only wife sure does: Priscilla Presley, who has characterized herself as a fan of Sofia Coppola's work, is an executive producer of "Priscilla." Her involvement is not really a surprise: Presley was a producer of the original "Elvis and Me" TV movie, and she has been a credited producer on numerous projects reckoning with the life and legacy of her late husband, including (to name a few) the original "Elvis and Me" TV movie; "Elvis Presley: The Searcher," a 2018 two-part HBO documentary, and "Agent Elvis," which debuted in March, an ultraviolent and profanity-laced Netflix animated series that depicts Elvis as an adjunct secret agent who battles Charles Manson and infiltrates the Altamont rock concert.

As stated earlier, Priscilla and her daughter, the late Lisa Marie Presley, were active boosters of the Luhrmann film, and Priscilla has been equally supportive of Coppola. She joined the director and the cast for the Venice premiere and "Priscilla," and she has praised Coppola and the film repeatedly in the weeks leading up to the movie's release. Said Presley about Coppola: "She just got me and I trusted her."

Lisa Marie, however, had issues, at least with the original script. In what was billed as an "EXCLUSIVE" story posted Thursday by Variety, the entertainment industry news journal reported that Lisa Marie Presley sent Coppola two emails last year, four months before her Jan. 12 death, in which she called the "Priscilla" script "shockingly vengeful and contemptuous."

"My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative," Lisa Marie Presley wrote. "As his daughter, I don’t read this and see any of my father in this character."

Coppola responded, according to Variety: "I hope that when you see the final film you will feel differently, and understand I’m taking great care in honoring your mother, while also presenting your father with sensitivity and complexity,”

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: 'Priscilla' movie: Where to watch and why there's no Elvis music