Lisa Marie Presley 'begged Sofia Coppola to change Elvis movie before she died'

02 November 2023 , 21:41

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Lisa Marie Presley hit out at Sofia Copolla months before her death about Sofia's Elvis biopic

Months before her death, Lisa Marie Presley wanted her father to be depicted differently in Sofia Coppola's upcoming movie.

Sofia's film Priscilla follows the relationship between Priscilla Presley and Elvis Presley. It's based off the former's 1985 memoir titled Elvis and Me. It's set to be released this Friday, November 3, and stars Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla and Euphoria's Jacob Elordi as Elvis.

Though the real Priscilla is an executive producer of the film, her late daughter seemed to not have much of an input. Lisa Marie Presley hated how her father was portrayed, calling his character a "predator" and "shockingly vengeful".

READ MORE: Priscilla Presley 'concerned' when Michael Jackson married daughter 'for her name'

Sofia said she was portraying Elvis 'with sensitivity and complexity' (Corbis via Getty Images)

In emails obtained by Variety, Lisa Marie wanted Sofia to change her script to reflect her father better. She mentioned her already strained relationship with her mother, Priscilla, would be even more tense. Lisa Marie also added that her son Benjamin had died in July of 2020 and the family was still dealing with the loss.

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Since the movie portrays Priscilla and Elvis' relationship, it shows how it started in Germany in 1959, when Priscilla was 14 and Elvis was 24. "My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative. As his daughter, I don’t read this and see any of my father in this character. I don’t read this and see my mother’s perspective of my father. I read this and see your shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective and I don’t understand why?” Lisa Marie wrote in her message to Sofia.

She added that she would publicly condemn the movie, writing: "I will be forced to be in a position where I will have to openly say how I feel about the film and go against you, my mother and this film publicly."

Lisa Marie sent the emails four months before her death (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Variety asked Sofia for comment, and the director's representative shared part of what Sofia wrote back to the enraged daughter. "I hope that when you see the final film you will feel differently, and understand I’m taking great care in honouring your mother, while also presenting your father with sensitivity and complexity," Sofia said.

The email chain reportedly occurred on September 2, 2022, four months before Lisa Marie's shocking death. In January 2023, Lisa Marie was found in her California home after suffering a cardiac arrest. Her autopsy cited a small bowel obstruction that was caused by a bariatric surgery she had done.

While Lisa Marie slammed this family re-telling, she praised Baz Luhrmann's Elvis when it came out last year. She called it "a break from suffering and a ray of light that hit us last year," referencing the death of her son. "It made us all so proud because it was a true depiction of who he really was,” she added.

Tatiana Krisztina