Editor’s Note

WORDS: Editor - Brian Usher PHOTOGRAPHY Brian Usher - www.usherusher.com

HOLLYWOOD on the Gold Coast! I know we have all heard this Movie World slogan before but we actually did have Hollywood on the Gold Coast when Universal Pictures Australia chose Pacific Fair’s Event Cinemas for the premiere of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, the movie, on June 4, 2022.

Directed by international film icon Baz Luhrmann, this epic life story of The King, Elvis Presley, was shot entirely here on the Gold Coast. In true Luhrmann style, the film opens your eyes to the world and life journey of Elvis at a level of detail that I have never seen before when it comes to The King.

The premiere brought the Gold Coast into clear view as one of the world’s best locations to make and launch a motion picture. Special guests included director Baz Luhrmann, breakthrough star Austin Butler (who plays Elvis), Oscar winner Tom Hanks, Olivia DeJonge and Oscar-winning costume designer Catherine Martin (Baz’s wife), who all made themselves available for the local, national and international press on the Red Carpet.

As great an actor as Tom Hanks is, for my mind, Austin Butler stole the show. Mimicking the movements, the voice, the thrusts and gyrations of Elvis Presley to a tee, Austin did the best Elvis I have ever seen – and I’ve seen a lot of them over the years. Watch this space. It will not be the last you see of Austin Butler.

Whether you’re an Elvis fan or not, you must go and see this movie. If for no other reason than to support a home-grown motion picture that places the Gold Coast on the world stage. Personally, I found out so many things about Elvis that I simply had no idea about.

Baz presented this film to Priscilla Presley before it was released. I’m sure it was a poignant moment when she turned to Baz and said: “My husband would have loved this.”

Congratulations Gold Coast. We nailed it!