Hugh Jackman Has Seen Elvis, And He Has Thoughts On Austin Butler, Tom Hanks, And More

Hugh Jackman makes a habit of supporting the works of his friends and colleagues – even those he is "feuding" with – and this past week he sent some love in the direction of Baz Luhrmann. Jackman worked with the filmmaker in the making of the 2008 epic Australia, and he recently took to his popular Twitter account to congratulate Luhrmann on his latest blockbuster: Elvis, starring Austin Butler.

Not limiting himself to the 280 characters that Twitter allows per message, Hugh Jackman posted a selfie video that features him raving about Elvis for 45 seconds. The actor, who is presently starring in Broadway's The Music Man, explained that he had gone to see the film with his wife Deborra-Lee Furness, and he was part of a packed crowd that "went crazy" for the film. Said Jackman,

You have done it again, Elvis is incredible. Deb and I went to see it last night here in New York City with a packed audience, and everyone went crazy. The music, the visuals, the acting, the production design, everything about is just so beautifully done. It is just so much fun, and I highly, highly recommend you all go out to see it.

Hugh Jackman is far from the only one singing Elvis' praises, as while the film received a polarizing response from critics after its Cannes premiere, it has become a nice hit for Warner Bros. at the box office. It won the box office in its opening weekend, topping Top Gun: Maverick, and it made an additional $30.5 million in domestic ticket sales between this past Friday and Sunday.

Clearly the Logan star was enthusiastic about all aspects of Elvis, but Hugh Jackman specifically complemented the work done by the movie's stars. He says that Austin Butler does an "amazing job" bringing to life rock and roll legend Elvis Presley, and that while expectations are always high for a Tom Hanks performance, his latest work is "astonishing." Also saluting Baz Luhrmann and screenwriter Sam Bromell, Jackman continued,

Austin crushes, you crush it, man, as Elvis. You did an amazing job. Tom Hanks, you're always incredible, but as Colonel Tom Parker, you're just astonishing. We just absolutely loved it. It was a brilliant, brilliant night at the theater, and Baz and Sam, you're just one of the greatest teams out there, and I'm thrilled, thrilled, thrilled you're making movies. This one is special.

You can watch the video that Hugh Jackman recorded by clicking the play button in the Twitter embed below:

Elvis arrived in theaters at the end of last month and is now playing in theaters everywhere. And if you're not in New York to see The Music Man but in the mood to watch Hugh Jackman do what he does best, you can always head over to our Hugh Jackman streaming guide to learn how to watch his best movies.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.