ABC/Craig Sjodin (QUEENSLAND) — Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming film about Elvis Presley will resume filming in Australia later this month.

Elvis, a biopic co-written and directed by Luhrmann, was in advanced pre-production in March when co-star Tom Hanks was diagnosed with COVID-19, halting production.

Hanks recently returned to Australia and is in mandatory quarantine for two weeks before filming resumes on September 23 in Queensland. He stars as Elvis’ manager, Colonel Tom Parker, opposite Austin Butler in the title role. 

“We’re back to, as Elvis liked to say, ‘taking care of business!'” Luhrmann says in a statement to Variety. “It is a real privilege in this unprecedented global moment that Tom Hanks has been able to return to Australia to join Austin Butler and all of our extraordinary cast and crew to commence production on Elvis.” 

Hanks and his wife, actor and singer Rita Wilson, both contracted COVID-19 while in Australia in March. Hanks later described his symptoms as “crippling body aches” and fatigue, while Wilson experienced “severe nausea,” high fever and lost her sense of taste and smell.  

Elvis is slated for release in late 2021.

By Cillea Houghton
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