“Shockingly Vengeful And Contemptuous”: The Late Lisa Marie Presley Was Not Happy with Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ Screenplay

Lisa Marie Presley was not a fan of Priscilla, Sofia Coppola’s screenplay adaptation of her mother Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir, Elvis and Me. 

Shortly before her death in January, Lisa Marie reached out to the filmmaker to share her surprise and dismay at the script’s depiction of her late father, Elvis Presley.

In emails obtained by Variety, Presley reportedly expressed her confusion about what she saw as Coppola “coming for” her father and the Presley family at large, and asked Coppola to re-envision Elvis’ depiction in the script before shooting the film, which was weeks away from production at the time.

“My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative,” Presley reportedly wrote. “As his daughter, I don’t read this and see any of my father in this character. I don’t read this and see my mother’s perspective of my father. I read this and see your shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective and I don’t understand why?”

If Coppola chose not to alter the screenplay, Presley wrote that she would have to publicly come out against the film and against her own mother, who serves as an executive producer on the film and has been very present in public promotion of Priscilla as it gears up for release this month. 

“I will be forced to be in a position where I will have to openly say how I feel about the film and go against you, my mother and this film publicly,” one of the emails to Coppola reportedly reads.

The filmmaker responded to the Variety report through her representative, providing the comment she shared in response to Presley’s emails: “I hope that when you see the final film you will feel differently, and understand I’m taking great care in honoring your mother, while also presenting your father with sensitivity and complexity,” Coppola said.

Priscilla, which premiered at this year’s Venice Film Festival, has been receiving some of the highest praise of Coppola’s career, with Rolling Stone calling it “her finest film since Lost in Translation.” 

Cailee Spaeny, who plays the titular character, received the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, and awards season is only just now starting to ramp up. 

Jacob Elordi, who is playing the iconic music legend not long after Austin Butler took on the role last year for Baz Luhrmann‘s Elvis, has also received positive notes for his portrayal. Critics have noted both Elordi’s performance and Coppola’s film at large serve as a more subtle, nuanced counterpoint to the feverish, large-scale biopic from last year.

Priscilla hits theaters nationwide today.