Eric Bana is set to play Elvis Presley in the feature film Elvis & Nixon, which marks the directorial debut of Cary Elwes. Bana also will executive produce.
Danny Huston is in final negotiations to play President Richard M. Nixon in the movie, which centers on a Dec. 21, 1970, visit that Presley paid to Nixon at the White House.
The meeting was initiated by Presley, who wrote Nixon a six-page letter requesting a visit and suggesting that he be made a “Federal Agent-at-Large” in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Presley brought with him family photos and a Colt 45 pistol as a personal gift to the president.
Elwes wrote the screenplay along with Joey Sagal and Hanala Sagal.
Michael Benaroya (Margin Call) and Holly Wiersma (Bobby) will produce.
Australian actor Bana will exec produce through his production company Pick Up Truck Pictures (Love the Beast), which will mark the company’s first U.S. production.
The movie, which will shoot in Shreveport, La., and Los Angeles, is being financed by Michael Benaroya’s Benaroya Pictures.
Bana, repped by WME and attorney Robert Offer, recently joined the Lakeshore Entertainment diamond-heist thriller Brilliant and just wrapped shooting Blackbird.
Huston, repped by ICM and Julian Belfrage Associates, will reprise his role of Poseidon in the upcoming Clash of the Titans sequel.
Elwes‘ recent credits include No Strings Attached and the upcoming The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.
