It's now or never to sell Elvis - Is this his last year?

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The King may be immortal, but his fans are not.

That is the essence of the problem facing the Elvis industry, which has hummed along quite nicely without him for 25 years, selling and reselling songs, movies, posters, books, clothing and every other imaginable form of merchandise, souvenir and retail experience related to or inspired by the King of Rock 'n' Roll.

The cashing-in is about to crest this year, the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death, with new CDs, coffee-table books, furniture, commercial tie-ins and even an animated Disney movie with Elvis songs in a crucial plot role.

But now, with original Elvis fans qualifying for senior-citizen discounts - Elvis himself would have turned 67 in January - the biggest question is whether this year's hoopla will be a comeback at all, or merely a last hurrah.

Joe DiMuro, senior vice president of strategic marketing at Elvis' record label, RCA Records/BMG, which is orchestrating a yearlong international marketing campaign for the release of two new Elvis collections on CD, said the goal was to spruce up what was essentially a timeworn product line.

"For us, it's about taking a property and figuring out, how do we make him hip, young and irreverent - into a brand that's relevant to this younger demographic," DiMuro said.

That challenge was on full view last week at Graceland, where the elderly taking snapshots of Elvis' tombstone far outnumbered the young. Dan Saulsgiver, 49, had driven his wife, Carol, and both of their mothers from Hamilton, N.Y., near Syracuse. But the real Elvis fan in the bunch was his mother-in-law, Marion Sand-quist, 77 and in a wheelchair.

"When we were dating, we'd go to the drive-in to see Elvis movies because that's the only way we could go out," Saulsgiver said.

"They had to be chaperoned," Sandquist said, laughing. "And I looooove Elvis."

"When he went on Ed Sullivan with the camera above his waist," Saulsgiver kidded back, "she had the only TV set showing him from the waist down."

Graceland officials insist that half of all visitors are younger than 35. Even if that is true, it is an open question how many children are eager to come and how many are dragged there by their elders.

Shanna Brown, a music teacher in Alabama, brought a group of students to Graceland for the day. Though they admired its fake fur, shag-carpeted ceilings and vinyl furniture, none said Elvis was particularly cool.

Asked what she knew about Elvis before she arrived, Katie Palmer, 10, replied, "That he died because he took an overdose."

Jack Soden, chief executive of Elvis Presley Enterprises, who has overseen Graceland since 1981, acknowledged that its marketing mission would have to adjust. "We don't want to abandon the original demographic," Soden said. "But to successfully sell that music, you've got to sell the guy, and tell new generations why the music's important, why he's important."

The selling of Elvis - which peaks each year on Aug. 16, his death date, during a weeklong tribute in Memphis - is happening now in ways that his manager, Col. Tom Parker, could never have dreamed. There are the new CD collections - one with 100 previously unreleased tracks, the other with 30 chart-topping singles.

For men under 34 coveted by advertisers, sweaty Nike commercials are already on the air, with a techno remix of Elvis' song A Little Less Conversation. For women under 24, there will be a book titled A Girl's Guide to Elvis.

Soon there will be McDonald's Happy Meal tie-ins and free CD-ROMs from America Online. There will be Elvis bedroom furniture and Elvis coffee-table books.

On June 21, the Walt Disney Co. will release an animated movie, Lilo and Stitch, about an alien creature and a troubled little Hawaiian girl who adores Elvis and does a mean lip-sync of Heartbreak Hotel.

Elvis' future popularity remains uncertain, though.

"Unlike a lot of '60s and '70s groups like the Doors, who recycle back into popularity, I don't see that happening with Elvis," said Andrew Bergstein, a marketing professor at Pennsylvania State University who specializes in pop culture.

"Lots of students I teach are only vaguely aware who he is, and as more of a comic figure. They don't appreciate that he was cutting some pretty important ground. I wouldn't want to be in charge of trying to sell him to a younger generation."

ONLINE: Graceland: www.elvis.com