“Elvis” helmer Baz Luhrmann still in the building; After the King biopic’s 8 Oscar nominations, he signs a first-look deal with Warner Bros. Pictures

EXCLUSIVE: As Warner Bros Pictures continues to gain traction under new leadership, the studio on Thursday acquired the services of a cornerstone filmmaker and struck a first-look deal with him elvis Director-writer-producer Baz Luhrmann.

The deal was brokered by Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, co-chairmen and CEOs of Warner Bros. Pictures Group. It follows eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, which the film received on Tuesday. Already the highest-grossing original film of the Oscar crop at $151 million domestically and $287 million worldwide – the second-highest-grossing musical biopic in the world – elvis is poised to continue expanding that number when the film returns to theaters across North America this weekend for a limited run.

For Luhrmann, the result is particularly gratifying as it was the first major film to be taken offline at the start of the Covid pandemic; it’s fading from memory, but Tom Hanks was the first major movie star to come down with the virus days before filming began (Deadline’s report on it was our most-watched story of all time). Hanks recovered and soon all production in Hollywood shut down as the world itself was quarantined. Luhrmann kept the production together, and the downtime allowed him to continue to sharpen the film, and Austin Butler, nominated for best actor, lived for a long time in the skin of the legendary Presley.

“Baz Luhrmann is one of the most idiosyncratic filmmakers in modern cinema, and we are thrilled to announce that Warner Bros. continue our partnership with him,” said De Luca and Abdy. “The great success of elvis, which helped bring viewers of all ages and a whole new generation back to theaters, proves Baz remains at the forefront and at the forefront of the pop culture zeitgeist. He not only develops the medium of film further, but also creates an experience on the big screen that is unparalleled. He is a unique artist who has developed his own cinematic language that is inherent in each of his projects, right down to the music he incorporates into his work. Not only do we congratulate him on this week’s eight Oscar nominations, but we look forward to our future collaborative endeavors on the big screen.”

Luhrmann has long been a forward-thinking filmmaker with a particularly visceral visual ability and a flair for talent that shows in everything. Ballroom only to revive the musical with the protagonist of Nicole Kidman Moulin Rouge!to blow the dust off a Shakespearean classic Romeo + Julietwhich made Leonardo DiCaprio a superstar. He also directed the lead roles of Kidman and Hugh Jackman Australia and The Great Gatsby with DiCaprio. Luhrmann has always breathed the contemporary into historical dishes, Elvis Presley in Doja Cat, just as he did in the Jazz Age The Great Gatsby about Jay-Z and rising star Lana Del Rey. His musical collaborators have included David Bowie, Elton John and Måneskin, and his soundtracks have received multiple Grammy Award nominations. After choosing Butler over numerous contenders for the role of Elvis, Butler is quickly becoming an A-list actor.

Under the agreement, Luhrmann will develop and direct original feature film material, but may also direct external projects.

Besides his fencing work Moulin Rouge! The musical won 10 Tony Awards (most of the 2020-2019 season), in addition to the two Tony Awards won by Luhrmann’s production of Puccini’s opera The bohemians on Broadway in 2003. As for television series, he collaborated with Netflix on the 2016 series The descentbased on the emergence of hip hop in the South Bronx in the 1970s and Wide depthsA six-part Hulu series reflecting on the years 2008 Australia.

Lurhmann is represented by Robert Newman at WME and Bob Wallerstein at Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof + Fishman LLP.