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Abba Voyage creators in talks over Elvis hologram show

A statue of Elvis Presley

Featured Image: JR Harris on Unsplash

Abba Voyage’s creators are reportedly in talks to create a hologram show featuring late rock and roll icon Elvis Presley.

Pophouse Entertainment has held talks with Sony Music and Authentic Brands Group (ABG), which collectively own Presley’s music, image and likeness.

Initial reports claimed Pophouse wanted to buy the rights to Presley’s music, but a commercial partnership is seen as more likely. However, Pophouse, Sony and ABG have yet to comment on the reports, which initially surfaced in the Financial Times.

Pophouse, whose co-founders include Abba star Bjorn Ulvaes, has sold more than two million tickets for the Abba Voyage show in London since it was launched in 2022. The show, based at a purpose-built arena, features life-size avatars of the four members of Abba as they looked in the 1970s alongside a live band.

British immersive entertainment group Layered Reality has already outlined plans for an AI-powered Elvis Presley concert that will premiere in London in November. Further shows are then planned in Las Vegas, Tokyo and Berlin.

Presley, who died aged 42 in 1977, generated earnings of more than $100m according to Forbes. He featured second in their list of the world’s highest-paid dead celebrities, only behind Michael Jackson.

In December 2023, it was revealed that ABBA Voyage brought in £178m (€205m/$226m) in terms of net economic benefit to London in its first year, according to analysis published by research and strategy consultancy Sound Diplomacy and social value consultancy RealWorth.