Baz Luhrmann — who directed the movie Elvis, starring Austin Butler in an Oscar-nominated performance — went on a journey to unearth never-before-seen footage and audio of the late Elvis Presley that’s made its way to a new documentary.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Luhrmann was hard at work for years on EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, a new movie that utilizes footage from six shows filmed in 1970 at the King of Rock’s Las Vegas residency, as well as four concerts filmed in 1972 while he was on his U.S. tour.
What makes this footage so special? It was previously owned by MGM and stored in literal salt mines in Kansas designed to preserve the film’s integrity and prevent moisture damage. Luhrmann likened getting permission to uncover the footage like something from Raiders of the Lost Ark. When they finally scanned the film reels, they realized they had a 1972 interview with the directors of the movie Elvis on Tour and a 45-minute audio interview recorded that same year.
“That was a light bulb moment. It was like, why don’t we just get outta the way — most pieces on Elvis are people talking about Elvis, or talking heads — and just let Elvis come to you kind of in a dreamscape, tell you his story, and sing it too,” Luhrmann explained of the legendary performer, who died in 1977.
“When we came across Elvis talking about his life in his own voice, it became something else,” added editor Jonathan Redmond. “He wasn’t telling us something I didn’t know already, but hearing him say it was just so much more powerful.”
“And then looking at the footage, you see how funny he was, him kind of goofing around in rehearsals, or backstage chatting with his backup singers in a really kind of sweet way,” Redmond continued. “That added a depth to the man that I felt was lacking just in terms of what I’d read about him.”