Alex Gibney’s Four-Hour Elon Musk Documentary Set for Venice Premiere

Artistic director Alberto Barbera unveiled the film during a press event in Rome, highlighting its 232-minute runtime as a reflection of the complex, often contradictory life of its subject. Barbera described the documentary as a portrait of a figure who functions as both a brilliant capitalist entrepreneur and a dangerous technocrat lacking moral scruples. The production timeline stretched significantly beyond its initial March 2023 announcement, as Gibney returned to the editing room to incorporate Musk’s recent political alignment with Donald Trump and his leadership role within the Department of Government Efficiency.

Backers HBO Documentary Films and Bleecker Street noted that the project’s scope expanded in tandem with Musk’s evolving public profile. The film is scheduled for a U.S. theatrical release on October 16, with HBO retaining North American television and streaming rights. Gibney, an Academy Award winner known for investigative works like “Going Clear” and “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” has faced public skepticism from Musk since the project’s inception. The SpaceX founder famously labeled the documentary a “hit piece” on X, sparking a brief, public exchange with the director.