New Elvis documentary by Baz Luhrmann in the works as well as Graceland’s plans for the next 3 years

During Elvis Week 2024 in Memphis, plans were announced for the “Road to 50”, the 3 years from now leading up to the 50th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death in August 2027. Joel Weinshanker, managing partner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, gave a sneak peak of several projects that they are working on. 

1) The biggest attention-getter was the announcement of a new Elvis documentary by Baz Luhrmann. No specifics were given, but Weinshanker said this would come out in the next 3 years. In the last year, Luhrmann has hinted that he is working on releasing the never-before-released footage from Presley’s two concert movies, That’s The Way It Is (1970) and Elvis on Tour (1972). It’s unclear whether this is what his documentary is about, or if it’s totally separate from the unreleased concert footage. His October 2023 teaser on Instagram is here:

2) A surprise announcement by Graceland during Elvis Week was the launch of a new public tour option called “Presley for a Day.” Set to launch September 6, the tour offers fans to spend a whole day (7 hours to be exact) at Graceland which offers unprecedented access to the Graceland grounds and the Elvis archives, a chance to ride the horses at Graceland, and also ride around in golf carts just like Elvis and Lisa Marie used to do. 

Because of the exclusive experiences never offered before, the tour comes with a high price tag of $1500 per person. Weinshanker explained that $400 of each tour, which is offered in groups of 4 only, would be donated to local Memphis charities. 

3) Additional projects discussed at Elvis Week have been alluded to before by Weinshanker, including plans for a new recording studio on the grounds of the Graceland mansion property – “something that not only did Elvis always want, [but] he designed. There is, in our archives, architectural drawings for that,” explained Weinshanker.  

Weinshanker had mentioned in 2023 that a streaming series would be filmed at Graceland documenting the creation of a new building somewhere on the property. At Elvis Week 2024, he mentioned again an unidentified streaming project possibly in the next 3 years. 

4) Weinshanker also teased what is most likely the new Elvis hologram project. Without giving any specific details, he described a project starting in London in 2025 that the public would be able to “come to rooms that Elvis was in and actually interact with all of these.” 

This project called “ELVIS EVOLUTION” was first announced in January 2024 and was slated to be launched in November 2024. However, the official website for the project has changed the launch date to March 2025. 

5) Weinshanker also described that 3 to 4 new buildings in total would be built in the next 3 years on the Graceland property. He also explained that they would be announcing new projects or events every 3 to 4 months leading up to the big 50th anniversary in August 2027. 

The next big Elvis event coming up is his 90th birthday celebration in January 2025. Angie Marchese, Vice President of Graceland Archives and Exhibits, revealed that a new exhibit will be unveiled in January featuring “90 individual objects that each tell their own story.” She gave a sneak peak of some of the items that will be displayed including personal ID cards from Presley’s wallet from 1957.

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This article was written by the Elvis News Examiner, Trina Young. She is the author of 4 Elvis books, including ELVIS: The Army Years Uncovered. Read a free excerpt at ElvisBiography.net.

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