Lisa Marie Presley was prepared to fight her mother and the team behind “Priscilla” to protect her father’s legacy and make sure he’s not portrayed in a too damaging light.
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Prior to her death, she sent a strongly worded message to the director, Sofia Coppola, and accused her of making the movie, which released on Nov. 3 2023, with the worst intentions at heart.
Here’s how far she was prepared to go to make sure the “vengeful” book adaptation “Priscilla” didn’t tarnish her famous father’s reputation.
Lisa Marie Presley – Was Prepared To Stand Against “Priscilla” Regardless Of Her Mother’s Involvement
Four months before her tragic death at 54, Lisa Marie made it clear that she was not onboard with Sofia Coppola’s movie “Priscilla.” As the only child of Elvis and the sole inheritor of his estate, she felt it her duty to not be associated with projects that depict her father as a “predator.”
While Lisa Marie loved the Austin Butler-led “Elvis” – probably because it concentrated on her father’s fame rather than his sexual life – and even attended the premiere ceremony days before her death, she was nowhere near as chill with “Priscilla.”
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A new report published by Variety saw the outlet share the September 2022 email correspondence that Lisa Marie had sent Coppola, for adapting the 1985 memoir “Elvis and Me” for the big screen and allegedly doing so contemptuously.
“My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative,” Lisa Marie wrote to Sofia in one of her messages, per the publication. “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?”
The movie explores Elvis through the eyes of Priscilla, whom he started dating when he was 24 and she was 14.
After speaking of her annoyance with the movie, she wrote that she was prepared to speak out against its creators, including her mother who served as an executive producer on the project.
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“I will be forced to be in a position where I will have to openly say how I feel about the film,” she wrote, per Variety, “and go against you, my mother and this film publicly.”
Lisa Marie Presley Feared “Priscilla” Will Have The Wrong Impact On The Audience
Another thing that worried the “Sinking In” singer was how the public will react to what she claimed was a nasty depiction of her late father. A reputation she claims her mother worked so hard to preserve over the years.
“I am worried that my mother isn’t seeing the nuance here or realizing the way in which Elvis will be perceived when this movie comes out,” she explained. “I feel protective over my mother who has spent her whole life elevating my father’s legacy. I am worried she doesn’t understand the intentions behind this film or the outcome it will have.”
She went on to confess that she’s “drowning” amid personal struggles, including the death of her only son via suicide in 2020, and wouldn’t want this to add to it.
Whereas Lisa Marie felt Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” elevated her father’s glory, she was sure all Coppola wanted to do was tear it down.
And she wrote that she didn’t understand the “need to attempt to take my father down on the heels of such an incredible film using the excuse that you are trying to tell my mother’s story,” adding, “but from your very dark and jaded reality.”
Sofia Coppola then wrote back, assuring her that it’s her wish to tell the story with “great care.”
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