Venice Premiere and Scope of the Film
The film, titled “Musk,” premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday, September 8, and runs a staggering four hours. Despite the length, it reportedly earned a four-minute standing ovation, with one audience member shouting “Thank you!” once the applause finally died down.
It comes from Oscar- and Emmy-nominated director Alex Gibney, known for tackling corporate scandal, institutional abuse, and political corruption in films like “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” and “Going Clear.”
Gibney began working on the project back in 2023, though he admitted at a press conference that the scope grew far beyond what he’d originally planned. “We intended to make a shorter film,” he said, according to Variety.
Musk did not participate. He has already dismissed the project as a “hit piece” without watching it, and the film instead relies on interviews with people who know him — plus an AI-generated avatar of Musk built from his own public statements.
The documentary hits U.S. theaters on October 16 via Bleecker Street, followed by a streaming release on HBO Max.
Elon Musk carries X Æ A-Xii on his shoulders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. on February 11, 2025 | Source: Getty Images
