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The 2020s have been pretty great for those who were hungering for Elvis Presley biopics. First came the mixed bag Elvis in 2022, which featured a star-making performance by Austin Butler, but was weighed down by melodrama and Tom Hanks of all people. Then there was Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla the following year. And now, the latter is doing extremely well on Netflix, even if it didn’t connect with audiences quite as much as was expected back in 2023. But, without a doubt, it’s the better of the two Elvis-related movies and is arguably Coppola’s best movie since Lost in Translation back in 2003, depending on how you feel about The Beguiled with Colin Farell and Nicole Kidman.
Perhaps the reason is that it features two performers just on the verge of blowing up, Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi. In fact, both of them were in major Netflix Original movies in 2025. Wake Up Dead Man and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, respectively. So why has it taken a few years for this A24 movie to find its audience, and just how much of an audience is it finding on Netflix? Let’s find out.
How Did Priscilla Perform in Theaters & How Is It Doing on Netflix?
On a budget of $20 million, Priscilla pulled in nearly $21 million domestically and a further $12 million overseas, resulting in a worldwide total of $33.1 million. So, not a box office bomb by any stretch of the imagination, but for a film that tells a love story of two classic stars (one for his music and the other for her work in The Naked Gun and Dallas), a bit of an underperformer. This is especially true considering Elordi was on the cast list, considering he had already gained some clout via The Kissing Booth trilogy and Euphoria.
However, Priscilla didn’t feature either star at the level of fame they have now. In fact, even though it didn’t get any Academy Award nominations (though Spaeny won Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival), it was a hugely important steppingstone for both of them.
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This was the movie that proved both performers could headline a film. After this, Spaeny and Elordi went from supporting players to leads. For Elordi, his next film was Saltburn and, since then, he’s headlined Frankenstein and will soon have his name on the poster for Wuthering Heights alongside Margot Robbie and Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars alongside Margaret Qualley and Josh Brolin. In other words, he’s officially an A-lister.
The same could be said of Spaeny. After stealing Pacific Rim Uprising and Bad Times at the El Royale in supporting roles, she got her top-billed start in The Craft: Legacy. But, as one might imagine, Priscilla was more respected than The Craft, which led to a major role in Civil War, the lead role in Alien: Romulus, and a meaty part in Wake Up Dead Man. As one can see, she’s now getting substantial roles in major IPs, aka she too is now an A-lister.
For the week of 12/29/25 to 1/4/26, Priscilla was in tenth place on Netflix’s list of Top 10 most watched films in the United States. Ranking above it was the documentary Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story in first place followed by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, underrated Jason Statham heist tale Wrath of Man, the Netflix Original smashes KPop Demon Hunters and Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, as well as the Denzel Washington actioner Man on Fire, Ford v. Ferrari, The Girl Who Got Away, and Pitch Perfect 2.
Will you be giving this well-acted romantic drama a shot on movie night? Let us know in the comments.
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