Quentin Tarantino Said Elvis Presley Almost Starred in ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’
In his fascinating book about Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino said Elvis Presley almost appeared in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, one of the most beloved Westerns of the 1960s. Another source says the director’s claim is dubious. Regardless, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid inspired one of the best movie themes of its era.
Warren Beatty and Elvis Presley could have been ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’
In his 2022 book Cinema Speculation, Tarantino discussed the making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. “After [Steve] McQueen dropped out of the role of the Sundance Kid, before [Robert] Redford, it was offered to Warren Beatty,” he said. “Naturally, if Beatty did it he wanted to play Butch Cassidy (a nonstarter because that role had always been Newman’s). But if they had gone for it, Beatty wanted to do it with Elvis Presley as Sundance.”
The book Elvis Films FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll in Hollywood says it’s “unlikely” that this happened. The book says that the stories of the movies Elvis turned down are more interesting than the movies he actually made. According to legend, Elvis almost appeared onscreen with John Wayne in the classic Western True Grit. He definitely lost out on the chance to play Jesse James in The True Story of Jesse James, a film from Rebel Without a Cause director Nicholas Ray. That definitely would have reinforced Elvis’ 1950s image as a rebel!
Quentin Tarantino felt Elvis Presley’s movie career didn’t compare to Steve McQueen’s
Elsewhere in Cinema Speculation, Tarantino contrasts Elvis’ movie career with that of McQueen. Tarantino discusses the working relationship between McQueen and his wife, Neile. “The importance of Neile McQueen to Steve’s success as a movie star can’t be overemphasized,” he said. “It was Neile who read the scripts. It was Neile who narrowed down the material. It was Neile who was good at choosing material that would be best for Steve.”
Tarantino singled out McQueen’s movie The Cincinnati Kid for praise. “And it was thanks to Neile’s good taste and her keen understanding of both her husband’s ability and his iconic persona that she steered her husband, starting with The Cincinnati Kid, into the biggest winning streak of the second half of the ’60s (a Neile McQueen is what Elvis needed),” he wrote.
‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ gave us a classic tune from Burt Bacharach
Critics loved Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and it had a significant influence on the buddy comedy genre. The film garnered seven Academy Awards nominations. It won four, including the awards for Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song. The latter went to Burt Bacharach for his classic song “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” which became a standard. If the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll starred in the film, we can only imagine what its soundtrack would have been like.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a charming film even if Elvis didn’t get to star in it.
