‘Elvis’ to Screen for Free at Select Theaters on Presley’s 88th Birthday

The Jan. 8 showings will also feature the short documentary “Just a Boy from Tupelo: Bringing Elvis to the Big Screen”

elvis
"Elvis" (Warner Bros.)

Warner Bros. Discovery is giving director Baz Lurhmann’s “Elvis” — starring Austin Butler and Tom Hanks — a little help on its path to potential Oscar glory, with free screenings scheduled on Presley’s birthday — Jan. 8 — in ten select markets across North America. The showings, which will begin at 4 p.m. in Los Angeles and 5 p.m. in all other markets, will also feature the 30-minute special “Just a Boy From Tupelo: Bringing Elvis to the Big Screen.”

“We are so appreciative of the audiences of all ages who came out to see the movie in theaters,” Lurhmann said, “and to Warner Bros. and exhibitors who took on what was certainly not a sure bet.  A big thank you to audiences who made ‘Elvis’ the number one original title of 2022, and especially to Elvis’s fans — both old and new. The entire ‘Elvis’ team, along with Graceland and the Presleys themselves, have been listening to you all and working diligently to come up with these very special gifts in celebration of Elvis on his birthday.”

Tickets will be available at no cost to moviegoers on a first-come, first-served basis here, for the following locations:

  • Atlanta:               AMC Phipps Plaza
  • Chicago:                AMC River East 21
  • Dallas:                  AMC NorthPark 15
  • Kansas City:         AMC Town Center 20, Leawood
  • Los Angeles:       AMC Burbank
  • New York:           AMC Loews 34th Street
  • San Francisco:    AMC Metreon
  • Toronto:           Cineplex’s Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
  • Vancouver:          Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas

Meanwhile, Presley’s family home, Graceland, will host four days of special events honoring the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll along with an exhibition “The Making of Elvis,” which will showcase paraphernalia, sketches, costumes and props seen in the Warner Bros. Discovery release. A never-before-released song from “Elvis,” the Britney Spears x Elvis Presley mash-up “Toxic Las Vegas: Jamieson Shaw Remix,” will debut this coming Friday and “Elvis” Cast Town Hall will rebroadcast on SirusXM’s Elvis Radio this weekend.

Fans will be encouraged to celebrate on social media with the #ElvisBirthdayChallenge, and other birthday events include:

  • Elvis Movie Marathon and Club Elvis Hawaiian Style dinner, dancing, and “Blue Hawaii” (Jan. 5),
  • Graceland Excursion to Tupelo; Archives Show & Tell; annual Elvis Birthday Pops Concert with Terry Mike Jeffrey and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra (Jan. 6).
  • Conversations with Elvis with host Tom Brown, guests Hal Lansky, Glen Hardin and Alton Mason, who portrays Little Richard in the film; Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii 50th Anniversary Concert (Jan. 7).
  • Elvis Birthday Proclamation Ceremony, with free online viewing via Graceland’s Livestream page; Lisa Marie Presley, along with special guest Alton Mason, will join the ceremony taking place on the front lawn of the mansion at 8:30 a.m (Jan. 8).
  • The unveiling of “The Making of “Elvis” at Elvis Presley’s Memphis, a new exhibition in partnership with Warner Bros., National Film and Sound Archives of Australia and Luhrmann, which explores the beginning of the film’s creative process through its journey to the big screen; Alton Mason will also be on site for the opening (Jan. 8).
  • Graceland will offer new, limited-time “Elvis” Movie Ultimate VIP (UVIP) Tours beginning on Jan. 9 and continuing throughout the month of February.

Throughout the weekend, fans in town can also experience Afternoon Graceland Christmas Tours and Evening UVIP Christmas Tours. Information on all events can be found at Graceland.com.

Memphis, home to Presley’s beloved Graceland, will also host an afternoon screening at 2:00 p.m. in the estate’s Guest House Theater for fans in town for Elvis’s Birthday Celebration.  Tickets will be available here.

“No one was more appreciative of his fans than Elvis, as evidenced by the pilgrimage so many make to Graceland every year,” said Joel Weinshanker, managing partner and majority owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises.  “That’s why we are especially thrilled to partner with Warner Bros. on the occasion of Elvis Presley’s birthday, to add to our robust lineup for fans the gift of Baz Luhrmann’s incomparable film ELVIS—whether they are seeing it for the first time or, as we suspect, able to repeat the big screen experience they’ve undoubtedly been hoping for.”

Elvis Presley was born on Jan. 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, and died at 42 on Aug. 16, 1977. He would have been 88 years old this year.

The film “Elvis” was a critical and commercial hit this past year, earning $151 million domestic and $286 million worldwide on an $85 million budget, and it remains Warner Bros. Discovery’s biggest awards season contender for the upcoming Academy Awards.

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