He pensively (nervously?) scratched the blond scruff on his chin. The question is whether Butler is ready for an otherworldly ascendance, should it actually happen - and whether he wants it at all. I was with a young actor whose name was Leo.” He was referring to a pre-“Titanic” DiCaprio, then quivering hearts in Luhrmann’s “Romeo + Juliet” (1996). “As soon as we got on the red carpet, there was keening from fans.

“That ready-to-fly moment is happening for Austin, and I know because we went to the Met Gala together,” Luhrmann said. Denis Villeneuve recently cast Butler as the villain in “Dune: Part Two.” (He has started intensive knife-fighting training for that role.) Butler will also play a lead in “Masters of the Air,” a coming Apple TV+ war saga from Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Tom Hanks, Leonardo DiCaprio and Denzel Washington have been offering Butler advice and lobbying behind the scenes on his behalf. In other words, Hollywood has decided that Butler sits on the edge of stardom, perhaps even superstardom. Then filming for “Elvis” began in Australia (after a long pandemic delay) and whispers from the set began to spread across moviedom: This lanky, deep-voiced Butler guy might be the real deal. The big-budget “Elvis” called for a singing, hip-swiveling, icon-channeling dynamo, and Butler was unproven, with most of his experience coming from low-budget teen television shows.

In 2019, when Butler got the part, beating out Harry Styles and Ansel Elgort, Hollywood arched a collective eyebrow. Lately, a version of the same scene, or at least the same discussion, has been playing out in real life, with Austin Butler, who plays the title role in “Elvis,” as the shy nobody about to take off. “Yes, sir - I’m ready,” Elvis drawls in response, “ready to fly.” With a devil’s bargain struck, the ride starts to spin. They have just boarded a Ferris wheel at a country fair in Mississippi, and the bulbous Parker wants to know if his seatmate will pursue stardom at any cost.

It is the mid-1950s, and Tom Parker - ersatz colonel, wannabe talent manager, borderline psychopath - is sitting beside a shy nobody named Elvis Presley. The question comes early in “ Elvis,” Baz Luhrmann’s latest cinematic fever dream.

Marking Melody by R.E. Butler