The King (2017 American film)


The King is a 2017 American documentary film about Elvis Presley and America during his career. Eugene Jarecki directs and also co-wrote the script with Christopher St. John, who produces. The film had its North American premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, after its international premiere at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. It was released in the United States on June 22, 2018. Between its premiere at Cannes and its commercial release, the film's named was changed from Promised Land to The King.

Premise

The film follows filmmaker Eugene Jarecki as he travels in a 1963 Rolls Royce Phantom V once owned by Elvis Presley to various cities across America, including Tupelo, Memphis, New York City and Las Vegas.

Reception

Box office

The film made $29,050 from two New York City theaters in its opening weekend, for an average of $14,525 per venue, the third-best of the weekend and one of the best of the year for documentaries.

Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 78% based on 86 reviews, and an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The King pursues a wildly ambitious thesis through some fairly bumpy territory, but emerges as a provocative and insightful look at modern America." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".