It's official! The actor taking on Elvis Presley in the upcoming biopic has been announced!

Publish Date
Tuesday, 16 July 2019, 9:05AM

Director Baz Luhrmann has found his Elvis!

Austin Butler will be taking on the role of the legendary "King of Rock and Roll" in the upcoming biopic ... and he has some pretty big shoes to fill.

Luhrmann confirmed the news himself on Instagram overnight, posting a photo of Presley's mugshot along with a photo of Butler.

The announcement comes after it was previously revealed Luhrmann was deciding between five actors for the prominent role, including former One Direction star Harry Styles, Ansel Elgort, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Miles Teller.

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"I knew I couldn’t make this film if the casting wasn’t absolutely right, and we searched thoroughly for an actor with the ability to evoke the singular natural movement and vocal qualities of this peerless star, but also the inner vulnerability of the artist," Luhrmann said in a statement.

"Throughout the casting process, it was an honour for me to encounter such a vast array of talent. I had heard about Austin Butler from his stand-out role opposite Denzel Washington in The Iceman Cometh on Broadway, and through a journey of extensive screen testing and music and performance workshops, I knew unequivocally that I had found someone who could embody the spirit of one of the world’s most iconic musical figures."

READ MORE:
• Elvis Presley's granddaughter is all grown up - and she is absolutely beautiful!
• Adam Lambert reveals he wants to play Elvis Presley in the upcoming Tom Hanks movie

The 27-year-old actor's debut on Broadway in The Iceman Cometh garnered him massive praise in 2018.

Butler has appeared in TV shows including Arrow, The Carrie Diaries and The Shannara Chronicles and he will be seen later this month opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

The young actor also recently starred on the big screen alongside Bill Murray and Adam Driver in Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die.

The film - which is set to begin filming in Queensland, Australia in early 2020 - will document the iconic singer's rise to fame, as well as his complicated relationship with his longtime manager, Colonel Tom Parker, who will be portrayed by Tom Hanks.

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