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Elvis Presley‘s Las Vegas residency was a historic moment for the showman. Held at the International Hotel, later the Las Vegas Hilton and now the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, Presley played a recordbreaking 636 consecutive sold-out shows there between 1969 and 1976. It is estimated that he performed for approximately 2.5 million people during his stint, generating roughly $43.7 million in ticket sales at the time.
“That show was hugely successful [and] introduced rock ‘n’ roll to the big Vegas stage,” said Richard Zoglin, author of Elvis in Vegas. The residency occurred at a later stage of Presley’s career, ending just a year before he died in 1977.
Like many, we assume our readers weren’t there to see Presley perform in Vegas. Hell, most people weren’t even alive to witness his greatness. If you weren’t able to see the “Burning Love” singer during his residency, lucky for you, director Baz Luhrmann has brought footage of the star’s shining achievement back to theaters this year with his new documentary titled EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert.
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert Directed by Baz Luhrmann
This new documentary takes viewers behind the scenes of Presley’s Las Vegas residency with never-before-seen footage. The documentary is directed by Baz Luhrmann, director of the 2022 biopic Elvis.
The documentary gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at Presley’s Vegas stint with never-before-seen footage. Tickets to the documentary are available now on Fandango. Pricing varies depending on your location and chosen theater. The film’s soundtrack features a combination of updated remixes of signature live recordings alongside new remixes and medleys of classic songs from Presley, including Jamieson Shaw remixes of “In the Ghetto” and “Love Me” and a PNAU remix of “Don’t Fly Away.”
Luhrmann is quite familiar with the life and work of Presley. Back in 2022, the director released a biopic titled Elvis, starring Austin Butler as Presley and Tom Hanks as his infamous manager and tour promoter, Colonel Tom Parker. The biopic dove into Presley’s early life, sharing the star’s rise to fame and the little-known inspiration he took from African American artists like Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup and Big Mama Thornton that directly inspired his work, a la “Hound Dog,” going forward.
According to a release, during the making of his 2022 biopic, Luhrmann and his team found a treasure trove of long-hidden film negatives and footage in the Warner Brothers vault from the Elvis docs Elvis: The Way It Is from 1970 and Elvis On Tour from 1972 in addition to never-before-seen 8mm footage and never-before-heard audio of Elvis musing about his life. All of this inspired Luhrmann to self-fund and create this documentary.
