Warner Bros. Pictures has signed a first-look deal with “Elvis” director/writer/producer Baz Luhrmann.
The deal follows on the heels of eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, that the film received Tuesday. The top-grossing original film in the Oscar Best Picture line-up, the film snagged $151 million domestic and $287 million worldwide.
Under the deal, Luhrmann will develop and direct original feature material but is able to direct outside projects as well. The “Australia” and “Moulin Rouge” director was key to the film’s success, holding the production together through the COVID pandemic.
The news comes as “Elvis” is set to return to theaters across North America this weekend for a limited engagement in the wake of the Oscar nominations.
He’s not the only one setting an overall deal of late. “Fleabag” creator/star, “Killing Eve” creator and “No Time to Die” script polisher Phoebe Waller-Bridge has renewed her overall deal at Amazon.
Key to this will be a series adaptation of Claudia Lux’s novel “Sign Here” which she’ll write and executive produce with Jenny Robbins.
The series follows Peyote Trip, who has a pretty good gig in the deals department on the fifth floor of Hell. Sure, none of the pens work, the coffee machine is out of order, and Jägermeister is the only drink around – but it’s still Hell.
After waiting a millennium, he comes up with a plan that might just change his life (and death) forever.
