Never Seen Vegas Elvis Footage Unearthed for New Doc

A new Elvis Presley documentary from Baz Luhrmann draws from nearly 60 hours of never-before-seen footage filmed between 1969 and 1976 at the International/Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas.

Luhrmann’s new project, “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on Saturday night to raves from Elvis fans, who reported witnessing 96 minutes of unseen performances and behind-the-scenes rehearsals.

Elvis hardcores have heard whispers of “lost footage” for decades, but it wasn’t until the director began digging during the production of his 2022 “Elvis” biopic that the full scope and quality of what exists was revealed.

Among the moments featured the new doc are:

• The first known live performance of “Burning Love,” filmed in 1972
• A rare rehearsal of the Beatles’ “Something,” with Elvis joking, “These are suggestive lyrics, man”
• A few bars of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released”
• Elvis tap-dancing for Sammy Davis Jr., who watched from the audience
• 45 minutes of Elvis speaking to his band, some of which Lurhmann uses as his new film’s narration

Much of this material was shot for “That’s the Way It Is” (1970) and “Elvis on Tour” (1972), but only a fraction made it to the final cuts before the raw footage was buried.

Suspicious Mines

Normally, the word “buried” is metaphorical — but in this case, it’s literal. Warner Bros. is one of several movie studios that stores its most valuable footage at Underground Vaults and Storage. Carved out from ancient rock salt deposits, this facility sits 650 feet below Hutchinson, Kan., offering near-perfect archival conditions (68°F and 40-50% humidity year-round) for storing celluloid.

Other footage stored there include the original negatives of “Gone with the Wind” and “Star Wars.”

Luhrmann enlisted Peter Jackson’s help to restore the Elvis footage. Jackson, the filmmaker behind “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, also directed, produced and restored the Beatles’ “Get Back,” which premiered on Disney+ in 2021.

The choice of Jackson makes perfect sense because, like “Get Back,” “Epic” seeks to restore not only lost film footage but also the image of what is commonly considered the most depressing and unbecoming era in its subject’s career.

The new Elvis doc has neither a distributor nor a release date yet, but there’s zero chance it’ll be returned to sender.