Sofia Coppola Hoped to Get Lana Del Rey for ‘Priscilla’ Soundtrack: ‘Didn’t Work Out With the Timing’
Lana Del Rey is not involved with the new film Priscilla, but director Sofia Coppola was open to the idea.
The Hollywood Reporter says the director first became aware of fans associating Elvis and Priscilla Presley with Del Rey — who has embodied Priscilla’s ’60s-style big hair and thick eyeliner throughout her career as an artist — while filming Priscilla.
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“I’m learning that people really connect Lana Del Rey and Priscilla and I didn’t realize that, but I got a lot of requests with, ‘How is she gonna be a part of the movie?’” Coppola said in a recent interview with E! News.
“We were hoping she could do a song for it, but it didn’t work out with the timing,” she explained.
Besides embodying Priscilla’s style, Del Rey, known as a longtime fan of the Presleys, has referenced Elvis in her lyrics. She had a demo titled “Elvis” featured in Eugene Jarecki’s Elvis documentary, The King, in 2017.
Coppola invited Del Rey to the Priscilla premiere, but the singer-songwriter couldn’t attend. She says she is “excited for her to see it.”
The film is based on Priscilla’s memoir, Elvis and Me, and follows the romance between Elvis and Priscilla, told from her perspective. It doesn’t feature Elvis’ actual music because Authentic Brands Group, the majority owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, didn’t accept Coppola’s offer for the rights.
“They don’t like projects that they haven’t originated, and they’re protective of their brand,” Coppola told THR earlier this year. “But that made us be more creative.”
Although the late Lisa Marie Presley, who was the only child of Elvis and Priscilla, seemingly did not approve of the way her dad was depicted in Coppola’s script, Priscilla was moved by the project.
At the movie’s Venice Film Festival showing, Priscilla embraced Coppola and wiped away tears during a standing ovation. “We haven’t talked specifically about the music, but she said, ‘You did your homework,’ ” Coppola told Billboard. “She felt it was authentic, which was so important to me.”
Priscilla, starring Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi, is now playing in theaters.
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