The Baz Luhrmann film Elvis has been a big success, drawing big profits at the box office and garnering critical acclaim. With a budget of around $85 million, Elvis has scored more than $276 million in theaters. It is the second highest-grossing musical biopic of all time, behind only the Freddie Mercury movie Bohemian Rhapsody, and is Lurhmann's highest-grossing domestic release. Add to that widespread praise for the film, especially in regard to Austin Butler's performance as the titular rock legend.

In a new interview with Variety, producer Gail Berman shared her thoughts on the movie's success. From her vantage point, Elvis performing so well can be attributed to a few different factors. One of them would notably be how impressive Butler is with his acting. Berman suggests pairing this with Tom Hanks' popularity really helped sell tickets with the movie's theatrical run.

“People love Tom and there was all this excitement about Austin as a new star. And everyone was so anxious to get back in theaters and see something that was well reviewed, so a lot of things came together to push this over the top and make it Baz’s No. 1 domestic film.”

These days, superhero movies pull in tremendous profits at the box office, but Berman says that filmmakers also have their own unique brands that fans will pay money to see. She theorizes that many older filmgoers familiar with Luhrmann's previous work were also eager to see Elvis just to see more from the acclaimed director.

“Branded entertainment isn’t just about having superheroes. Directors are brands. Baz Luhrmann’s brand is attractive to adult audiences. They know Gatsby, they know Moulin Rouge, many of them remember and love Strictly Ballroom. Baz is one of the few filmmakers that has that kind of connection with viewers... I’ve done a lot of films for young people, and I’ve done a lot of films for older people. People will show up if there’s something high-quality for them to see.”

Related: Elvis: Why These Are the Best Musical Moments

Elvis Came Out at a Good Time

Austin Butler as Elvis "Elvie" Presley in 'Elvis'
Warner Bros. Pictures

Berman also feels that Elvis had the benefit of spending more time in theaters than many other films released these days. The streaming wars have gotten many releases to leave theaters much more quickly so they can be made available to stream. Elvis managed to stay theatrical for more than 60 days at a time when other films are going to streaming in 45 days or less, and Berman admits that his only helped the film at the box office.

“We had a longer window, and that allowed the movie to catch on and enabled people to appreciate the reviews and for the word-of-mouth to grow. It allowed it to gestate."

The box office success is nice, but will any of this translate to Oscar nominations? That remains to be seen, but Berman is hopeful that Lurhmann will be recognized by adding that he did a "tremendous job directing." There has also been some Oscar buzz for Austin Butler and Tom Hanks as well. In any case, there's no denying that Elvis has been a big win already for everyone involved.

Elvis will start streaming on HBO Max on Sept. 2, 2022.