Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis trailer is superhero cinema at its best

Warner Bros. have unleashed the first trailer for Elvis, Baz Luhrman’s musical biopic of the eponymous rock-and-roll legend starring Austin Butler (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Tom Hanks, and it is absolutely bonkers.

Baz Luhrmann is one of the most stylistically eccentric auteurs of his generation, known for his penchant for lavish, musically-inclined stories and extravagant theatrical special effects in films such as Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!, and The Great Gatsby.

All of those qualities shine in full force in this new trailer, chronicling Elvis Presley’s rise to stardom from his humble beginnings in a Mississippi church choir to musical superstar crooning and gyrating on national television. Tom Hanks is in full-on Cloud Atlas mode here, delivering what can only be described as his best Foghorn Leghorn impression through his performance as Colonel Tom Parker, who discovers Elvis and shepherds his ascent to fame and fortune.

Luhrman’s film will focus intensely on the dynamic between Presley and Parker, spanning over 20 years as the former’s meteoric success eventually wanes into disillusionment against the backdrop of America’s evolving cultural landscape.

Elvis will premiere in theaters on June 24.