Baz Luhrmann Is Too "Tired" To Work On 4-Hour Cut Of Elvis: "I'm Not Closed To It, But Not Now"

Baz Luhrmann is open to the idea of releasing a four-hour version of his Elvis film — but insists it won't drop now and "probably not next year" either.

Speaking to Screen Rant, the Australian helmer, 59, said: "Not now, and not probably next year. But I don't close my mind to the idea that in the future, there might be a way of exploring another [cut].

"I've got to be really careful here, because the moment I put it out there ... I tell you what, all my tweets are nothing but, 'We want the four-hour version! We want the four-hour version!' I think people are at my gates with pitchforks saying, 'We want the four-hour version!'

"But I don't close my mind to the idea that there would be an extended cut.

"Right now, with how long it's stayed in the theaters and how well it's done, it's crossed the line.

"But it's done so well on HBO Max over the weekend, so it's about the parent company going, 'Wow, it's really worth spending the money.' "

Luhrmann revealed that it would take around four to six months of editing before the four-hour cut is ready.

"Because it isn't just like I've got it, and you just put it out there," he said. "Every minute in post-production, you have to do visual effects, grading, cutting, refining, and ADR sound.

"It's not like it's just sitting there finished, and I can just push a button and it comes out.

"You'd have to get back in and work on it. To do an extended cut, you'd be working on it for another four or six months something.

"I'm not closed to it, but not now. I'm a little bit on the tired side."

In June, Luhrmann told Radio Times there is a longer Elvis cut, which includes bits about Presley's romance with his first girlfriend, Dixie, as well as his relaitonship with his band.  "I mean, I have a four-hour version, actually," he said then. "I do. But you have to bring it down to 2 hours 30."
 

Meanwhile, Luhrmann fans fan look forward to a six-hour director's cut of his 2008 epic adventure Australia, which stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, coming to Disney+ end of the year. The new version, retitled Faraway Downs, come with with a new ending and an updated soundtrack.

Elvis is now streaming on HBO Go.— BANG SHOWBIZ

Photos: TPG News/Click Photos