Alex Gibney's Four-Hour Elon Musk Documentary Premieres at Venice, Heads to Toronto and U.S. Theaters
The four-hour documentary titled Musk, directed by Alex Gibney, debuted at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday, with a subsequent showing in Toronto, and is set to hit U.S. theaters on October 16. The film traces Musk's journey from co-founding Zip2 at the age of 23 to being ousted as CEO of PayPal during his honeymoon and establishing SpaceX. By 2010, SpaceX achieved its inaugural uncrewed capsule launch, joining the ranks of the U.S., Russia, and China. The documentary also examines Musk's connections to the Republican Party, his stake in Tesla, and controversies surrounding self-driving technology. It delves into his radicalization during the COVID pandemic, his acquisition of Twitter, and personal insights from ex-wife Justine Musk and Ashley St. Clair, with whom he shares a child. Gibney posits that Musk exemplifies larger issues related to wealth disparity.
Key facts
- Alex Gibney's documentary Musk premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday and will screen at Toronto before opening in U.S. theaters on Oct. 16.
- Musk co-founded Zip2 at age 23; its sale netted him over $20 million despite colleagues calling his code 'hair balls.'
- By 2010, SpaceX completed its first uncrewed capsule launch and return, prompting a news report to list only the U.S., Russia, China, and Elon Musk as entities that had achieved the feat.
- Musk settled a libel lawsuit with Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard with a stipulation allowing Musk to falsely call himself a founder.
- Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's Autopilot software director, testified that the company knowingly released a promotional video presenting self-driving potential as realized fact.
- After Joe Biden's Super Bowl tweet got more likes, Musk ordered 80 engineers to work overnight modifying Twitter's algorithm, inserting 'author_is_elon.'
- Ashley St. Clair, in a two-year relationship with Musk from 2023, gave birth to their son Romulus and later had her child support cut by 60 percent after publicly rebuking him.
- Musk never responded to Gibney's interview requests but appears in the film via file footage and an A.I.-enhanced avatar.
Entities
Artists
- Alex Gibney
- Elon Musk
- Martin Eberhard
- Ashok Elluswamy
- Joe Biden
- Justine Musk
- Ashley St. Clair
- Claire Boucher
- Grimes
- Vivian Musk
- Sam Harris
- Romulus Musk
- X Musk
Institutions
- Venice Film Festival
- Toronto International Film Festival
- Zip2
- PayPal
- SpaceX
- Tesla
- Slate
- Getty Images
- AFP
- Republican Party
- MAGA
Locations
- Venice
- Italy
- Toronto
- Canada
- United States
- Silicon Valley
- Russia
- China