Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ Set as New York Film Festival Centerpiece

Hilary Lewis
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Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla has been set as the centerpiece film at the New York Film Festival, making its North American premiere at the annual fall event on Oct. 6.

The A24 film about Elvis’ wife joins opening night movie May December, from Netflix, in this year’s lineup.

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Priscilla stars Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla Ann Wagner and Jacob Elordi as Elvis, following Priscilla from her early years as an Army brat stationed in West Germany to her arrival at Graceland. The film was written and directed by Coppola with Priscilla Presley co-writing the film.

“I am honored to be back at the New York Film Festival with my new film and to be telling Priscilla Presley’s story, the unseen side of a great American myth,” Coppola said in a statement.

The festival notes that Priscilla Presley’s story has “rarely been told from her perspective” and says the subject is “exquisitely tailored to [Coppola’s] interests,” as her films feature “intimate portraits of women living complicated lives behind closed doors.”

“With her customarily precise attention to texture and detail, Coppola has created one of her most stirring, vivid films a tribute to a woman who was living in the public eye before she had truly experienced the world,” the festival said of Priscilla in Thursday’s announcement.

Coppola produced the film alongside Youree Henley and Lorenzo Mieli of The Apartment/Fremantle and American Zoetrope.

“Priscilla is a culminating triumph for Sofia Coppola, a filmmaker with a singular gift for illuminating the interior lives of her characters,” said NYFF artistic director Dennis Lim. “It’s a showcase for a pair of star-making performances and a work of tremendous empathy and emotional nuance. We are looking forward to welcoming Sofia back to the festival with one of her very best films.”

Priscilla, the trailer for which was recently released, comes after Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 Warner Bros. film Elvis, in which Austin Butler played the title character, earned eight Oscar nominations and nearly $289 million at the global box office.

Coppola, who made history in 2017 as the second woman to win the best director prize at the Cannes Film Festival for The Beguiled, has directed such films as The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, The Bling Ring and On The Rocks.

Thursday’s announcement about Priscilla comes as fall festivals (including Venice, Toronto, Telluride and NY) consider how the writers and actors strikes will affect this year’s events, as SAG-AFTRA has said its members in the actors union aren’t permitted to promote their work at festivals as long as the work stoppage continues. The Directors Guild recently reached a new deal with the studios and streamers.

The 61st New York Film Festival is set to run from Sept. 29 – Oct. 15.

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