Harry Styles is in the running to play Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann's new biopic

One Direction star Harry Styles is potentially in line to play The King himself in a new biopic of Elvis Presley from Australian director Baz Luhrmann.

Also in the running for the role, according to reports, are Baby Driver star Ansel Elgort, Kick-Ass actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Miles Teller, and Austin Butler, who appears in new Tarantino movie Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Elgort, Johnson and Teller screen tested for Luhrmann last week.

Styles, meanwhile, impressed with his first foray into acting, appearing in Christopher Nolan's ambitious, star-studded war drama Dunkirk.

Whoever scores the part will be leading a major project for Warner Bros., which is rumoured to be going into production in 2020.

Tom Hanks is already signed up to play Col. Tom Parker, the Dutch-born former carnival worker who moved into music promotion, spotting the young Elvis Presley in 1955 and signing him up a year later.

Read more: Dunkirk star praises ‘witty’ Styles

The movie will reportedly explore the pair's relationship – Parker famously controlled much of Presley's private life as well as his professional career – along with the story of Presley's rise to worldwide stardom.

It's said that Parker took half of Presley's earnings.

Luhrmann has not directed a movie since his 2013 adaptation of The Great Gatsby with Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan.

His TV show The Get Down for Netflix, which explored the origins of the hip hop scene in 70s New York, was cancelled after one season.

Read more: Elvis fans shook up by lookalike grandson

There's no word yet on when the Elvis movie is slated for release. Speaking on Radio 5 Live’s Kermode and Mayo's Film Review recently, Hanks said the film was still “aways away”, hinting that the film would likely go into production in 2020.

Speaking about the casting process for Presley, the Toy Story 4 star admitted he was “not in that loop”.