Before she died, Lisa Marie Presley was furious with Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla

“It’s a terribly vengeful and contemptuous film,” she wrote to the director when the project was announced.

Directed by Sofia Coppola, Priscilla premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival. Cailee Spaeny, actress who plays Priscilla Presley, won the award for best actress. The young woman played this role on the arm of Jacob Elordistar ofEuphoria And The Kissing Booth, in the role of Elvis, therefore. However, the film did not inspire the same enthusiasm among Lisa Marie Presleydaughter of Priscilla And Elvis Presley.

In emails obtained exclusively by Variety, the Presley heiress had asked Sofia Coppola to revise her approach to the character of Elvis, in order to avoid general embarrassment for the family. The emails had been sent 4 months before the sudden disappearance of Lisa Marievictim of a cardiac arrest at only 54 years old.

The latter judged the scenario “terribly vengeful and contemptuous”. Furthermore, Lisa Marie Presley asked Sofia Coppola to refrain from damaging his (already fragile) relationship with his mother, the main character of the biopic.

“I’m afraid my mother won’t realize how Elvis will be perceived when this movie comes out. I have a duty to protect my mother, she spent her whole life defending my father’s legacy. I’m afraid she won’t understand not the intentions behind this film or the result that will emerge.”, wrote Lisa Marie Presley in her emails.

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The film is based on the book of memories of the main interested party, Elvis and me published in 1985. At the time, the work aroused strong reactions from the public, notably for the controversial episode of the courtship of Elvis (24 years old) and Priscilla, 14 years old at the time ( 1959).

“My father only appears as a predator and a manipulator. As the daughter of, I do not recognize my father in this character. I do not recognize my mother’s point of view towards my father. J I read the script and I could only see your terribly vindictive and contemptuous vision and that escapes me.”, expressed Lisa Marie Presley in one of her two emails.

In response, the director decided to wave the white flag.

“I hope that when you see the final result, you will feel differently and understand that I am taking great care to honor your mother. I also seek to present your father with sensitivity and complexity.”wrote Sofia Coppola.

The director’s goal was to tell a love story, the main plot being Priscilla’s process of adapting to this new life with a global superstar.

Lisa Marie Presley was fully aware of the potential consequences of the films on her children, therefore the King’s grandchildren.

“I had to explain that we will have to suffer another blow in our lives. That there is going to be a film about their grandfather, with a more negative outlook and which will make him seem like a really bad person – but that’s not true. I had to explain that their beloved grandmother supported the project. The kids have been through so much over the past 7 years: my divorce, my horrible custody fight, and then the disappearance of their brother, Benjamin Keough.“, Lisa Marie Presley wrote again.

Lisa Marie Presley did not seem convinced of the project and seemed determined to point the finger at what she considered to be a “desire to harm his family and to want to bring down my late father while using the excuse of projecting my mother’s story from a biased reality.“

Lisa Marie Presley died shortly after being able to express her disagreement with the project, but without being able to see its final version. Who on the other hand conquered the real Priscilla, who never stopped defend the director’s vision of Virgin Suicide And Lost in Translation in the press.

Priscilla will be released in theaters in the month of January 2024.