“A thorough and unvarnished analysis of Elon Musk, a technology billionaire who serves as the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter,” reads the synopsis of the latest Alex Gibney documentary, simply called “Musk.” Never before have words failed to capture the explosiveness and potential for controversy of a film like these do.
“Musk” debuted earlier this month at the Venice Film Festival and got several minutes of standing ovation. It’s a four-hour feature film that’s been in the making for the past three years and which, by sheer choice for a subject, was bound to be controversial and divisive.
The trailer that debuted after the first screening of the film (below) shows that it’s even more controversial and divisive than expected, while confirming that the film will cut no corners in portraying Musk as the greatest villain of modern times. Musk is a genius, but he is a mad one, the film seems to say – and reviews coming out of Venice confirm that this is the conclusion reached at the end of the four hours of screentime.
That said, it should probably come as little surprise that the Powers That Be in Hollywood are getting jittery about the planned release. Universal Pictures, which secured international distribution rights three years ago for several millions of dollars, is reportedly dragging their feet about the release, The Hollywood Reporter reports.
Photo: SNL
As of this writing, despite the resounding success of the Venice debut, Universal has not announced any release dates, nor are they taking questions from the media about it. THR says that at least two sources have confirmed that Universal will back out of the deal, paying the obligatory kill fee to have the rights handed back to the producers.
If that turns out to be the case, audiences will still see “Musk,” even with a slight delay. The same report notes that interest in the documentary peaked around the Venice debut, though distributors reigned it in knowing that the film was already sold.
Still, it would raise questions regarding the freedom of speech and how the media is bending under political pressure in the current landscape. THR believes that Comcast-owned Universal might not want to step on the toes of FCC Chair Brendan Carr, who is said to “privately revere” Musk and who is now investigating Comcast’s DEI practices.
Photo: Tesla
North American rights for “Musk” are currently held by HBO, with the studio expanding the budget when Musk came into the White House and urging Gibney to continue shooting. Things might change if David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance ends up buying Warner Bros. Discovery, of which HBO is part of – especially with Larry Ellison painted “in an unfavorable light” in the film.
Among the explosive topics tackled in the documentary is a theory that Musk is planning to use data collected in his DOGE days to rig the midterm elections and details pertaining to his personal life, courtesy of first wife Justine and one-time partner and babymama Ashley St. Claire.
Photo: ZDF Frontal 21
Alex Gibney, who is credited as director, writer, and producer on “Musk,” has previously signed his name as director to award-winning documentaries like “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” and the more recent Theranos expose “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.”
For his part, Elon Musk has described the feature documentary as a “hit piece” and “boring.”
“Musk” is still scheduled to run at various U.S. and European film festivals through the month of October.
