AllMovie

This documentary explores the stranger-than-fiction showbiz story of Jimmy Ellis, a gifted singer whose efforts to make a name for himself were foiled by the fact that he sounded exactly like Elvis Presley. Unable to find success on his own terms, Ellis is recruited for a strange creative endeavor when Presley dies in 1977: He begins performing as a masked musician known as Orion, and his handlers try to capitalize on rumors that the King faked his own death by constantly suggesting that Orion is really Elvis in disguise. While Ellis briefly becomes a pop sensation, he grows disillusioned with the role and the extent to which it takes over his life. Directed by Jeanie Finlay, Orion: The Man Who Would Be King made its world premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.