Preparations for marking the 50th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death and plans for an Elvis hologram show were among the topics discussed by Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE) managing partner Joel Weinshanker during an Elvis Week event at Graceland on Aug. 15.
Speaking as part of the Conversations on Elvis panel at the Graceland Soundstage, Weinshanker made his remarks during a brief 10-minute appearance in which he promised “at least four major events during the 50th anniversary" in 2027. "Four new, major, amazing attractions coming in, things that you've never seen before," he said.
“Coming up on the 50th anniversary, it's really important, so important, to keep Elvis alive in our hearts, in our heads, and here [at Graceland],” Weinshanker said.
“But for the 50th, we're actually going to look at it from a little bit of a different lens. You might see people here you have not seen in a long, long time, if ever.”
The EPE boss hinted that members of the Presley family — including the late Lisa Marie’s Presley’s children — would be part of next year’s remembrances.
“You're going to see family here,” said Weinshanker, his voice choked with emotion. “You do have to understand how difficult it is, especially for Lisa's kids to come here right now. I do not like to speak for them, but you have to understand how difficult it is coming to a place where their grandfather, who they never met, and where their [mother] and where their brother are buried. But I have a very high level of confidence we're going to see a lot more family in [2027], and I think that's going to be important.”
Weinshanker also confirmed that the long-rumored Elvis hologram project would finally see the light of day. He noted that there would be “an absolutely state-of-the-art, world-class state-of-the-art hologram [show] in Las Vegas within the next 18 months.”
He added: “When you see who's involved, when you hear about it, it's going to be something great. Elvis didn't love the idea of holograms, and I didn't love it for a decade either, but we've gotten to the point where we’re very excited about it.”
Weinshanker closed by noting that preparations for 2027's Elvis Week were already underway.
“Everybody at Graceland has a lot of work to do,” he said. “We're doing it for you all. We're doing it for Elvis.”
Bob Mehr is the music writer at The Commercial Appeal. Contact him at bob.mehr@commercialappeal.com.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Elvis hologram show likely to hit Las Vegas in 2028, EPE leader says
