ELVIS MOVIE CONFIRMED

[Matthew]

CGI Elvis? I have yet to see any totally lifelike realistic CGI image that looks completely natural.

Hollywood will not invest the kind of money required to create something so labour intensive for an Elvis Presley biopic.

And using original recordings is a nice idea but I'm against it - primarily due to the obvious limitations of (mainly) mono sources of varying quality.

The best option is a quality actor and a quality vocalist to tell the story. Someone so dedicated to their art that they "become" Elvis for the part.

[Justin]

And using original recordings is a nice idea but I'm against it - primarily due to the obvious limitations of (mainly) mono sources of varying quality.

Agreed.

The emphasis on these movies is put too much on the "impression" of Elvis...the voice..the curling lip...the side burns...the clothes. Most of the time, I feel like I'm just watching someone do an impression of Elvis more than a portrayal. If someone like Johnny Depp were to take this role (as previously rumored) I would appreciate him bringing his energy and personality to the role and not bother with getting every inflection of Elvis' voice duplicated. Just a little southern drawl will do--- I'm not looking to get a dead-on voice print here. It's been done.

The secret for these films to work is that you believe that the actor playing the part is actually going through these events. You see Johnny Depp (or any other person) in a wig, curling his lip and "thankyouverymuch-ing" everywhere is not going to cut it. The story must be strong enough to forget which actor is playing which part.

For this film to be universally accepted and gain new fans, the film must be careful to not end up being a love note satisfying only Elvis fans.

[Justin]

I don't think an Elvis bio-pic would be the proper vehicle to unveil a CGI Elvis. Where's the focus? The story or the spectacle of the CGI? I'm not sure the audience can go on that emotional ride that the film should create with the lead actor being a CGI-version of Elvis Presley. It's too huge of a distraction. In addition, it isn't really common for the subject of the movie to star in their own biopic as themselves. I feel there's too much of a clash here for this to work for a biopic and such a move would only jeopardize this film's chances for huge success.

[bajo]

To me, the only thing which can save a "I Walk The Line" kind of movie with Elvis is that the original music is beeing used!
Original Elvis performances as much as technically possible! Off stage sequences may be filmed using actors in a way that the flow between acting and performances makes it natural (as possible)l. And the actor(s) have to have some similarities to Elvis' look.
If it's going to be done, for once do it right!! If not, leave it!
It's the music that counts! If it's not there, it's dead to me!

[PEP]

CGI won't drive a major Presley film biography based on Peter Guralnick's book. Unless the author has ceded all approval rights to the movie company producers.

Maybe so, but I'm not sure what the difference would be if the same has do be done
with any movie company he decides to work with. At this stage I doubt it would be him anyway.

CGI Elvis? I have yet to see any totally lifelike realistic CGI image that looks completely natural.
That maybe true, but this would be the perfect candidate to try and make it happen. Looking at the Marlon Brando clip, the technology is improving.
Hollywood will not invest the kind of money required to create something so labour intensive for an Elvis Presley biopic.
In reality, you are proably right, however in my opinion it should be done.
And using original recordings is a nice idea but I'm against it - primarily due to the obvious limitations of (mainly) mono sources of varying quality.
This is another opportunity in using computer software to improve voice recognition.
The best option is a quality actor and a quality vocalist to tell the story. Someone so dedicated to their art that they "become" Elvis for the part.
This is all true, yet at the same time, I think the visual should be top priority too.
We have had too many actors that have looked nothing like Elvis.

For me, it just doesn't work for me anymore....that's another reason why I was so hot on "Lonely Street" the makeup job was 2nd to none, as anyone can see at the top left of the picture posted, because when you compare it to other actors who have protrayed Elvis, "Lonely Street" did the best job ,only problem in "Lonely Street" we were looking at a much older Elvis.

I don't think an Elvis bio-pic would be the proper vehicle to unveil a CGI Elvis. Where's the focus? The story or the spectacle of the CGI? I'm not sure the audience can go on that emotional ride that the film should create with the lead actor being a CGI-version of Elvis Presley. It's too huge of a distraction.
Why would it be? If it could be done, it would be great to see actual real footage and new footage created where One could not tell the difference as to what was real or not.

In addition, it isn't really common for the subject of the movie to star in their own biopic as themselves. I feel there's too much of a clash here for this to work for a biopic and such a move would only jeopardize this film's chances for huge success.

Disagree, sorry. I appreciate what you are saying, but this would be a new ball game, worth watching.

PEP .

[Spanish_Eyes]

It has to be done tastefully and I don't know how they can work around it - but they should use Elvis' real voice, performances, footage and music as much as possible. It will also be very hard for any actor to recapture that incredible magic and allure Elvis had about him. Elvis in the 1950s could captivate you, as the audience, just by standing there or talking. Whoever gets the part needs to either have a passion for Elvis or do their research and just be a very good actor. It's an almost impossible part to play I feel.

why that? Joaquin Phoenix delivered an amazing performance as Johnny Cash. If they choose the proper actor, he can play Elvis very well.

[Scarre]

No CGI. The use of original recordings is a must, of course.

[Swingin-Little-Guitar-Man]

No CGI. The use of original recordings is a must, of course.

Absolutely!

The Alternate take of That's All Right etc for live segments etc

If it follows the book closely, it will put Elvis in a super cool light with Joe and Joanne Public!

[bquick]

Kurt Russell was pretty credible during the acting segments, but just couldn't match Elvis on stage (who could?). CGI would take you right out of the movie. It worked fine for that Superman movie because Brando was a ghostly floating head....he wasn't a living breathing character that had to interact with other actors and actually emote. No CGI for me! Plus, no Elvis movie will have the budget for that kind of special effect.

[javilu]

Hey, they should have used a CGI Elvis for the Porn Parody!

[PEP]

No CGI. The use of original recordings is a must, of course.

You say No CGI, can you explain why?
Meaning would your answer be the same if there was software that were
available were the people watching the movie could not tell the difference
as to what was real and what wasn't?

Of course when I say this. Iam talking about Elvis.

When you reply can you do something for me, for fun. Please tell me
which pictures are of the real Marlon Brando and which pictures are
produced by CGI technology by number?
For that matter could any of you that want to, do this as well?
Please Note: to everyone: I've messed with the color a bit on some of the pictures
to add to the confusion.


PEP

[Scarre]

One can´t compare a face with a whole movie...not to mention those moves on stage. The reason I say no is that they can´t make it look 100% real. That is enough reason for me.

[Matthew]

The Marlon Brando bit in "Superman Returns" was based on specific already filmed material and once seen on screen is rendered into the shimmer of the crystal structure of Superman's fortress. A better comparison is some of the Superman flying scenes from the same movie, such as when he launches the space vehicle into space - which is CGI Superman. They don't quite cut it for photo realism.

At the end of the day Elvis' story is not saleable enough to warrant the massive amounts of dollars that would be required to fuel such an effects intensive enterprise, despite the fact that technology continues to improve.

[Ty@TheFilmFrontier]

For something like that to have any chance of working, the whole film would have to be CGI, not just Elvis - along the lines of Beowulf, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442933/. At that point, it's an animated movie (can you see it now? ELVIS 3D: Last Train To Memphis). I don't see that being the right route for a serious Elvis movie.

Beowulf had a $150 million budget, incidentally. By comparison, Walk The Line's budget was $28 million, while Ray came in at $40 million. (Source on budget estimates: http://www.imdb.com/.)

Troy

[Joe Car]

Not sure if this name has been mentioned, but how about actor Robert Pattison. Very popular, nice-looking and young.

http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&biw=1436&bih=694&q=actor+robert+pattinson&rlz=1W1ACAW_enCA329&wrapid=tlif130051135250711&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=azqETYu8GojegQeztcTYCA&ved=0CEoQsAQ

[vbgt]

It has to be done tastefully and I don't know how they can work around it - but they should use Elvis' real voice, performances, footage and music as much as possible. It will also be very hard for any actor to recapture that incredible magic and allure Elvis had about him. Elvis in the 1950s could captivate you, as the audience, just by standing there or talking. Whoever gets the part needs to either have a passion for Elvis or do their research and just be a very good actor. It's an almost impossible part to play I feel.

I agree. No actor to date,and none in the future,I fear,can show Elvis' star power and charisma. Even I find myself thinking"Why was this guy so huge?" when watching actors mimic Elvis on stage.

[JamesVRoy]

Not sure if this name has been mentioned, but how about actor Robert Pattison. Very popular, nice-looking and young.

http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&biw=1436&bih=694&q=actor+robert+pattinson&rlz=1W1ACAW_enCA329&wrapid=tlif130051135250711&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=azqETYu8GojegQeztcTYCA&ved=0CEoQsAQ

I might've mentioned him in one of the threads where we discussed this before. Actually I think he might not be a bad choice. I started thinking that when the first Twilight movie came out and I saw the pandemonium that ensued when people heard he was was going to make an appearance somewhere. It's that type of hysteria for someone that you can relate to that of the Elvis' and that of the Beatles in the day. It would take someone with that type of appeal to make a contemporary audience even understand how it happened to them, whil for the rest of us, we just wouldn't get it, like many of Elvis during the day.
I've been holding off posting in this thread because I have some dope on the meeting with Peter in Memphis and a few tidbits but I haven't heard back yet whether I'm at liberty to say anything.
Needless to say though, at best we can hope for an enjoyable movie. No picture will really capture the real story, or has yet. Even Walk the Line, which was a great movei, was, as Scotty put it, a fairy tale. As for the music, it could easily be peppered with the real songs, and any actor portraying him probably wouldn't have to sound much like him, at least for the live segments. We wouldn't exactly have to hear him, no one there at the time did.

[vbgt]

Not sure if this name has been mentioned, but how about actor Robert Pattison. Very popular, nice-looking and young.

http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&biw=1436&bih=694&q=actor+robert+pattinson&rlz=1W1ACAW_enCA329&wrapid=tlif130051135250711&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=azqETYu8GojegQeztcTYCA&ved=0CEoQsAQ

Too feminine and too little. Elvis wasn't a small guy,his height added to his aura. They always get these 5'5" guys to play him.

[JamesVRoy]

Not sure if this name has been mentioned, but how about actor Robert Pattison. Very popular, nice-looking and young.

http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&biw=1436&bih=694&q=actor+robert+pattinson&rlz=1W1ACAW_enCA329&wrapid=tlif130051135250711&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=azqETYu8GojegQeztcTYCA&ved=0CEoQsAQ

Too feminine and too little. Elvis wasn't a small guy,his height added to his aura. They always get these 5'5" guys to play him.

Pattison reputedly is 6'1"

[PEP]

Another example of CGI Technolgy used in Terminater 4, to reproduce a
1994 Arnold Schwarzenegger made in 2009. If you ask me, that looks pretty good.
If Iam not mistaken, a body double is used in the far away scene for movement, planted
with a CGI Schwarzenegger head. Bottom line, amazing things can be done already.
The software is in place. Imagination and determination is all that is needed, along with
a strong Budget, good cast and a strong script....$60 million I'm sure would cover it.
$60 million is not a unrealistic budget today, if Ray cost $40 million in 2004.
Jamie Fox I'm sure was paid $10 million of that budget if not more.
That same $10 million if not more, could go towards the CGI Technology
or rather software and the people behind it, to get it right.
..
Casting someone like Robert Pattinson would be a mistake.

he is more John Lennon, than Elvis.
We need somebody that looks like this for this movie.

CGI, is the way to go....

PEP

[vbgt]

Not sure if this name has been mentioned, but how about actor Robert Pattison. Very popular, nice-looking and young.

http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&biw=1436&bih=694&q=actor+robert+pattinson&rlz=1W1ACAW_enCA329&wrapid=tlif130051135250711&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=azqETYu8GojegQeztcTYCA&ved=0CEoQsAQ

Too feminine and too little. Elvis wasn't a small guy,his height added to his aura. They always get these 5'5" guys to play him.

Pattison reputedly is 6'1"

If that's true,I stand corrected,but in those pictures linked,he looks shorter than some of the women.

[midnightx]

Not sure if this name has been mentioned, but how about actor Robert Pattison. Very popular, nice-looking and young.

http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&biw=1436&bih=694&q=actor+robert+pattinson&rlz=1W1ACAW_enCA329&wrapid=tlif130051135250711&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=azqETYu8GojegQeztcTYCA&ved=0CEoQsAQ

Too feminine and too little. Elvis wasn't a small guy,his height added to his aura. They always get these 5'5" guys to play him.

Pattison reputedly is 6'1"

Pattison looks like a down syndrome version of Matthew Perry. Elvis was a stunningly handsome man; Pattison doesn't quite fit the bill.

[mountaindog]

Not sure if this name has been mentioned, but how about actor Robert Pattison. Very popular, nice-looking and young.

http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&biw=1436&bih=694&q=actor+robert+pattinson&rlz=1W1ACAW_enCA329&wrapid=tlif130051135250711&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=azqETYu8GojegQeztcTYCA&ved=0CEoQsAQ

Too feminine and too little. Elvis wasn't a small guy,his height added to his aura. They always get these 5'5" guys to play him.

Pattison reputedly is 6'1"

Pattison looks like a down syndrome version of Matthew Perry.

lol

[Joe Car]

Not sure if this name has been mentioned, but how about actor Robert Pattison. Very popular, nice-looking and young.

http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&biw=1436&bih=694&q=actor+robert+pattinson&rlz=1W1ACAW_enCA329&wrapid=tlif130051135250711&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&sa=X&ei=azqETYu8GojegQeztcTYCA&ved=0CEoQsAQ

Too feminine and too little. Elvis wasn't a small guy,his height added to his aura. They always get these 5'5" guys to play him.

Pattison reputedly is 6'1"

Pattison looks like a down syndrome version of Matthew Perry. Elvis was a stunningly handsome man; Pattison doesn't quite fit the bill.

I know his looks don't match that of Elvis', but he has the appeal going for him right now. Women love this guy for some reason!

[stevelecher]

Did any one here see Sweet Dreams with Jessica Lange? That movie was enhanced by the use of original Patsy Cline recordings. Like Elvis, nobody would do justice or portray her talent better than her own songbook. They have to do a good job of marrying the recording to the new visual though. Nothing is worse than watching what's his name lip-synch to Elvis songs in that last two part Elvis TV movie.

Steve Lecher