Director Baz Luhrmann has confirmed that filming will restart imminently in Australia on his Elvis film now that Tom Hanks has arrived back on location. Filming was derailed when Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for coronavirus a few months ago.
Production in Queensland will start beginning on September 23 according to Warner Bros. and Luhrmann had this to say about getting back to work on the project:
“We’re back to, as Elvis liked to say, ‘taking care of business!’ It is a real privilege in this unprecedented global moment that Tom Hanks has been able to return to Australia to join Austin Butler and all of our extraordinary cast and crew to commence production on Elvis. I cannot emphasize enough how lucky we feel in the current climate that the state of Queensland, and Queenslanders in general, have been so supportive of this film. We thank our partners in the Queensland Government and Queensland Health for their extremely diligent process, so that we can be an example how creativity and productivity can proceed safely and responsibly in a way that protects our team and the community at large. We are all excited to start working with Tom Hanks when he is out of quarantine in two weeks.”
Elvis stars Austin Butler as Elvis Presley and the film will chronicle the life of the rock and roll legend. Directed and co-written by Luhrmann, Tom Hanks co-stars as Colonel Tom Parker, the manager of Elvis Presley who forged a successful union with Presley as Elvis was an entirely new force in popular music and Parker as an entrepreneur that was able to market him. The film also stars Olivia DeJonge, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rufus Sewell, and Yola.
