What Do Elvis Presley and Tupac Shakur Have in Common?

Katie Kindelan

One is "the King of Rock and Roll," the other is rap royalty.  But soon the late musicians Elvis Presley and Tupac Shakur will share one thing in common.

Both will continue to live on in a sort of virtual after-life as holograms.

Digital Domain Media Group, the company behind the Tupac Shakur hologram that descended on the Cochella music festival in April, announced this week that it is planning to create a virtual Elvis Presley as well.

The Tupac hologram made headlines by resurrecting the slain rapper to rhyme with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre at the massive music festival.  Tupac, who died more than 15 years ago, greeted the crowd with a "what up, Coachella!" Bare-chested, in a pair of acid-washed jeans, the high-tech, 3D image of the deceased rapper seamlessly joined Snoop on "Come With Me," "Hail Mary" and "Gangsta Party."

The appearance became a trending topic online and Tupac's hologram even gained its own Twitter account, @hologramtupac.

Nick Smith, president of the San Diego-based hologram creation company AV Concepts that worked on the Tupac hologram, told MTV News at the time that holograms like Tupac 2.0 cost between $100,000 and $400,000.



Digital Domain said it is working in cooperation with Elvis Presley Enterprises, part of the CORE Media Group, on a series of "virtual" Elvis likenesses for everything from film and TV to "multi-platform productions throughout the world."

The company has not said when a virtual Elvis could be appearing on a screen near you, but did say it plans to announce its plans for a full roll-out soon.

"Elvis Presley is the king of rock and roll … you have to start with the king," Ed Ulbrich, Chief Creative Officer at Digital Domain told MTV News this week.  "We're in the creative development stages now. Instead of a single application we're looking to bring Elvis back across a host of platforms, including live concerts in venues."

The announcement comes in the same week that Graceland, Elvis' famous home in Tennessee, will celebrate its 30 th anniversary of being open to the public.  The anniversary will be celebrated on June 7 and officials with Elvis Presley Enterprises said they also expect to welcome Graceland's 18 millionth visitor in the coming weeks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.