Moviegoers already knew that Todd Haynes‘ “May December” would open the 61st annual New York Film Festival this Fall. But now another North American premiere will happen in NYC. Sofia Coppola‘s “Priscilla” will be the festival’s Centerpiece on October 6 before it hits theaters later that month courtesy of A24.
Coppola’s latest stars Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla Ann Wagner and Jacob Elordi as Elvis Presley, recounting Priscilla’s early years as an Army brat stationed in West Germany before she meets Elvis, falls in love, and moves to Graceland. Priscilla Presley co-writes the film with Coppola. It’s Coppola’s first feature since 2020’s “On The Rocks.”
Here’s a synopsis of “Priscilla,” courtesy of NYFF:
Never has there been a more obsessed-over American pop icon than Elvis Presley, yet no one knew him more tenderly during his superstar years than Priscilla Ann Wagner, whose own story as Elvis’s romantic partner and only wife has rarely been told from her perspective. Director Sofia Coppola, who in her remarkable filmography has so often returned to intimate portraits of women living complicated lives behind closed doors, has found a subject exquisitely tailored to her interests. As portrayed with extraordinary poise and strength by Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla finally becomes the center of her narrative. Coppola follows her love affair with Elvis (an equally revelatory, larger-than-life Jacob Elordi), from her early years as a teenage army brat stationed in West Germany to her surreal arrival at Graceland, which becomes both her home and prison. 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.
“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,” said director Sofia Coppola. Dennis Lim, Artistic Director for the New York Film Festival, had his own statement about the film. “”Priscilla” is a culminating triumph for Sofia Coppola, a filmmaker with a singular gift for illuminating the interior lives of her characters,” he said. “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.”
Coppola continues her history of screening films at NYFF, after 2006’s “Marie Antoinette” and “On The Rocks” in 2020. So what other films will join “Priscilla” at Lincoln Center this Fall? That’s up the NYFF Main Slate selection committee, chaired by Lim. Other members include Florence Almozini, Justin Chang, K. Austin Collins, and Rachel Rosen.
The 61st New York Film Festival runs from September 29-October 15 this year. Watch a teaser for “Priscilla” below.
