'Priscilla' finally had its world premiere in competition at the 2023 Venice Film Festival and it received a rapturous seven-minute 30-second standing ovation for director Sofia Coppola, the film's young leads and the inspiration herself, Priscilla Presley.
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00:00 What about boys at school?
00:01 Must be some handsome ones.
00:03 Priscilla finally had its world premiere in competition
00:06 at this year's Venice Film Festival,
00:08 and it received a rapturous
00:10 seven-minute, 30-second standing ovation
00:12 for director Sofia Coppola, the film's young leads,
00:15 and the inspiration herself, Priscilla Presley.
00:18 Thanks to an interim agreement,
00:19 stars Kayleigh Spaney and Jacob Elordi
00:21 were able to attend the premiere
00:23 alongside Coppola and Presley.
00:25 The biopic details her relationship with Elvis,
00:27 whom she met as a 14-year-old.
00:29 During the standing ovation, Coppola hugged Presley,
00:32 who was seen holding back tears,
00:33 overcome with the emotion of the event and the reception.
00:36 Earlier in the day at the film's press conference,
00:38 Coppola spoke about showing Presley the film
00:40 for the first time.
00:41 I was so nervous to show her the film for the first time,
00:45 and we watched it, and she said, "That was my life.
00:49 "You did your homework," and I was relieved
00:52 because it was very important to me
00:54 that she be happy with it,
00:55 while at the same time, I'm trying to imagine
00:58 the story in my head, so that was a challenge for me
01:00 and really important to me
01:02 that she felt her story was respected.
01:04 On set of Coppola and Presley's
01:06 The Hollywood Reporter cover shoot,
01:08 Presley shared this about watching the film.
01:10 At the end, I actually, I was quite emotional.
01:13 It was done just so really sensitively,
01:18 with a lot of care, and I had tears in my eyes, for sure.
01:24 Priscilla, written and directed by Coppola,
01:26 is based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me,
01:29 written by Presley and Sandra Harmon.
01:31 For more on this story, head to thr.com.
01:33 For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.
01:36 (upbeat music)
01:39 (whooshing)