As the 'Elvis' movie opens this weekend, did you know one of his last shows was in Cincinnati?

On Friday, the musical and drama depicting the life of the King of Rock 'n' Roll will premiere in movie theaters around the country.

Directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Austin Butler as Elvis Presley himself, "Elvis" will show Presley's humble beginnings and rise to superstardom, while exploring the complicated relationship he had with his manager, played by Tom Hanks.

'I couldn't be an imposter': How Austin Butler vanished into the role of Elvis Presley

Elvis has left the building: Some Las Vegas chapels ordered to stop holding Elvis weddings.

What Cincinnati fans may (or may not) know is that Presley's second-to-last show ever was at the Downtown Riverfront Coliseum (now Heritage Bank Center) in 1977, less than two months before his death.

In 2017, The Enquirer's historian and librarian Jeff Suess wrote about Presley's last stop in Cincinnati. You can read that original story below.

Originally story published Aug. 17, 2017:

Elvis Presley, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, died 40 years ago, on Aug. 16, 1977.

Mothers and daughters alike wept and played his records. Mourning fans flocked to the gates of Graceland, Presley’s mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. It was the end of an era for baby boomers who had witnessed the world change, sparked by Elvis’s swiveling hips, sneering lips and golden voice.

“Well, since my baby left me …”

Cincinnati fans were among the last to see the King perform. His show at Riverfront Coliseum on June 25, 1977, was his next-to-last concert, just seven weeks before he died.

It was Presley’s fourth visit to the Queen City. He had only made it as close as Dayton and Columbus back in 1956. After a decade as a Hollywood star, he returned to touring in the 1970s and finally came to Cincinnati.

Elvis played to a packed house of 13,000 at Cincinnati Gardens on Nov. 11, 1971. He returned to the Gardens on June 27, 1973, resplendent in the white American eagle suit he wore in his “Aloha from Hawaii” television special.

“Elvis is probably one of the two or three best showmen of the world,” The Enquirer’s Jim Knippenberg wrote in 1973. “And he throws one of the best concerts going. Not just good but fun. It feels good.”

By the time he returned for two shows at the Coliseum on March 21, 1976, the Las Vegas-style Elvis with the wide sideburns, helmet of dyed black hair and sequined jumpsuit had nearly become a punch line.

At the matinee performance, Elvis held up Jerry Dowling’s caricature from that day’s Enquirer depicting him as grotesque and out of shape. “They captured me just perfect,” Presley told the crowd of 17,500, pointing to the cartoon’s bulging stomach. “All I want to say is whoever drew this …” He paused, then finished with a laugh, “I hate the son of a ——.”

Then he launched into “Love Me.”

“Treat me like a fool …”

Later in the show, he split the pants of his blue jumpsuit and had to change off stage.

As Presley’s weight ballooned and his health suffered, he continued performing to an exhausting schedule. At times, he exhibited erratic, somewhat paranoid behavior, and no one, least of all Elvis himself, wanted to believe he had a drug problem.

On what became his final tour, in June 1977, he gave a confused, drowsy performance in Omaha, Nebraska, in front of television cameras recording a CBS special.

A few days later in Cincinnati, Presley suddenly checked out of the Hilton Netherland Hotel, complaining of inadequate air conditioning, and set out across downtown streets in his blue Drug Enforcement Agency jogging suit and sunglasses, trailed by his security.

All that was forgotten as soon as Elvis stepped on stage to the theme from “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The crowd screamed. Instamatics flashed like strobe lights as he posed in his Mexican Sundial suit for each corner of the arena.

“No performer, 20 years after attaining stardom, receives the response Presley does,” The Enquirer’s Cliff Radel wrote in 1976. “If audience adulation was the determining factor, his title to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll would be unquestioned.”

Women, some of them fans for two decades, charged the stage carrying homemade signs and gifts for the King, hoping for a silk scarf or, even better, a kiss. Elvis was a benevolent king, and complied.

People came to see Presley, to be in his presence. The music was secondary. But he still had that voice, which had matured into a rich baritone especially effective on ballads such as “My Way” or the stirring gospel song “How Great Thou Art.”

“Presley’s rendition of ‘Jailhouse Rock’ at his 1977 Coliseum performance was one of those infuriating examples of how good he could get his voice to sound when the spirit moved him,” Radel wrote shortly after Presley’s death. “He used the same contradictory tone, lighthearted but urgent, that he used on his original ‘Jailhouse Rock.’

“It was this ability to reach back and recapture this gift of freedom, which he gave popular music, that kept Elvis Presley’s fans coming back for more.”

The Coliseum crowd grew quiet when Elvis sat down at a piano near the end of the show to play the elegiac “Unchained Melody.” They didn’t know that his body was all used up, that he was dying. He sang his heart out, still capable of moments of transcendence.

He closed, as always, with “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” belting out the finale.

“I can’t help falling in love – with – you!”

Then, Elvis pointed to the audience, wiped his face and tossed his scarf into the sea of hands below, and walked off stage. A voice on the loudspeaker announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.”

Less than two months later, he was gone.

Sources: Enquirer archives, Elvis Presley in Concert (elvisconcerts.com), “Elvis in Ohio (1955-1977)” (www.guitars101.com), “Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley” by Peter Guralnick

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Elvis Presley played in Cincinnati two months before death