Alex Gibney's Elon Musk Documentary Set for Venice Film Festival Premiere

Alex Gibney’s long-awaited documentary about Elon Musk will premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September, running 232 minutes. Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera highlighted the film’s length, noting it spans four hours and examines Musk’s career, contradictions, and the concentration of power in a single individual.

Barbera described Musk as a "genius of capitalist entrepreneurship, but also a dangerous technocrat, with no moral scruples."

The project, first announced in March 2023 as a "definitive and unvarnished examination" of the Tesla, SpaceX and X chief, was completed in early 2025. Production faced delays as Musk’s public activities, including support for political campaigns and a high-profile IPO that raised his net worth to about $1.8 trillion, continued to evolve.

HBO Documentary Films and Bleecker Street, the film’s backers, said the documentary’s scope expanded alongside Musk’s ongoing story.

Musk responded to early reports of the film on X, calling it "a hit piece," to which Gibney replied, "How would you know?"

Bleecker Street will release the film in U.S. theaters on October 16, while HBO Documentary Films holds North American television and streaming rights. International sales are being handled by Black Bear. The documentary is produced by Jigsaw Productions with Closer Media, Double Agent and Anonymous Content.

The 83rd Venice Film Festival runs from September 2 to 12.