Austin Butler attends the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 24, 2019 in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagicFor all the suspicious minds wondering how Austin Butler will fare as Elvis Presley in the new biopic, by the looks of a new teaser, he’s nailed the performance.
Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann (The Great Gatsby), who’s helming the biopic, gave fans a first look at Butler’s portrayal of The King of Rock & Roll on what he called “Elvis Monday” (Nov. 15). “Made a little something to let you good people know we are taking care of business on June 24, 2022,” he captioned the 21-second snippet on Instagram while highlighting the King’s “taking care of business” mantra.
In the clip, the 30-year-old actor is seen, only from behind, with his perfectly slicked-back black hair walking backstage in his classic black leather jacket in one shot and white suit in another while his 1969 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Suspicious Minds” plays in the background.
Some musicians are ready for the film based on Luhrmann’s comments section, where Yola wrote “YEEESSSSSS!!!” followed by fire emojis and Ben Wells chimed in with, “Cannot. Wait!!”
The yet-untitled Elvis biopic is set to be released in theaters on June 24, 2022. The release date has been pushed back many times throughout the last year due to COVID, including after Tom Hanks — who will play Elvis’ manager Colonel Tom Parker in the film — contracted the virus in Australia, where he was filming the biopic, along with his wife Rita Wilson.
Watch Luhrmann’s biopic snippet below.
The world leader, who has repeatedly faced criticism for featuring songs from artists who do not want their music connected to his political views, shared a viral clip of We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love) that focused on the lyric: “Me and my truth we sit in silence.”
The footage shows Trump at a rally while the statement “Men can’t have babies and should never compete in women’s sports” appears on screen.
The Team Trump TikTok account posted the video with the caption: “This shouldn’t be controversial! #trump #arianagrande #maga.”
Ariana responded in a comment that was later removed, saying: “Never use my music again. Also, your truth is false.”
Trump has a well known record of opposing transgender rights, and the US Supreme Court recently ruled that states can prohibit transgender women from taking part in women’s sports. In a 6 to 3 ruling, the justices determined that such laws do not breach Title IX or the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
The decision in June came after several other actions by the Trump administration involving transgender policies. Earlier in May, the Supreme Court also permitted the administration to continue with its “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness” order, which would prevent transgender individuals from serving in the US military.
Ariana’s statement arrived soon after Taylor Swift also took steps to stop Trump from using her music on TikTok. Trump had featured a number of her songs in his social media posts, including a video of him and his wife Lady Melania Trump watching fireworks accompanied by August.
The song was later taken off the post and replaced by a notice that read: “This sound isn’t available.”
Trump appeared to deliberately select Taylor’s track, adding the message: “I’m sure @Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song!”
He also responded to the Team Trump video with: “Mood because it’s August and Donald Trump is your president.”
Other Taylor Swift songs that were removed from Trump’s TikTok content included The Fate of Ophelia and Father Figure.
Trump previously made headlines when he wrote “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” on Truth Social after the singer publicly announced that she planned to support Kamala Harris in the previous presidential election.
