Alex Gibney’s controversial four-hour documentary about Elon Musk will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September. The documentary traces Musk’s rise from entrepreneur to one of the world’s most influential figures, exploring the contradictions behind the tech mogul and the immense power concentrated in the hands of one man.
Alex Gibney’s Elon Musk documentary will arrive in theaters after its festival premiere
The documentary, titled Musk, is scheduled for a U.S. theatrical release on October 16. Artistic director Alberto Barbera revealed the 232-minute feature as part of the Venice Film Festival’s official lineup during the programme announcement in Rome on July 23. The festival’s lineup also includes Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine, Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime, and Werner Herzog’s Bucking Fastard.
Barbera said the documentary’s runtime reflects the depth and complexity of Musk’s story. The 76-year-old said, as per The Hollywood Reporter, “I invite you to look at the duration of the movie — four hours.” Adding, “[Gibney] traces the whole career — the contradictions, and the conditioning power that is centralized in the hands of a single man. Consider a genius of capitalist entrepreneurship, but also a dangerous technocrat, with no moral scruples.”
According to The Blast, the documentary was originally announced in March 2023; however, it evolved over an extended production period as Musk’s global influence continued to increase. Oscar-winning director Gibney finished an early version of the documentary in early 2025 but later re-edited it to include major new developments, including Musk’s support for Donald Trump and his role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk, who recently criticized Christopher Nolan’s choice to cast Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy in The Odyssey, has openly criticised the project since its announcement, calling it a “hit piece” on X. Gibney fired back, asking, “How would you know?”
Gibney has previously explored controversial figures in documentaries such as Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine (2015) and The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019), about Elizabeth Holmes, states Yahoo Entertainment. His other films include Enron, Going Clear, We Steal Secrets, and Citizen K, which explored Putin and his critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
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