Tesla CEO and well known billionaire Elon Musk has made quite a journey since 2004, when he joined Martin Eberhardt and Marc Tarpenning as the lead investor in their EV startup Tesla Motors. All of it, and more, is captured in the new documentary film, “Musk,” It was set to open on 472 screens across the country on Friday, October 16, but if you blinked, you missed it. The film’s distributor, Bleecker Street, has already pulled it out of action. Well, timing is everything…
📌 The Core Development
Leading up to last week’s blackout, the “Musk” documentary was riding high on a cushion of supportive publicity, with acclaimed documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney at the helm and Elon Musk providing a fascinating, high profile subject in the great tradition of the US auto industry.
Among other works, Gibney was a consulting producer on the hard-hitting 2006 documentary directed by Chris Paine, “Who Killed the Electric Car?” The film excoriated General Motors for killing off its 199o’s-era EV1 electric sedan after just a few years at low-volume production. The car was leased, not sold, and only a few escaped the junkyard crusher when GM halted production and recalled the vehicles.
🔍 Background & Sector Context
With that in his background, Gibney might be expected to create a somewhat flattering portrait of the little known young investor who made the Tesla Motors dream come true. In fact, Paine eneded “Who Killed the Electric Car” with a shot of a Tesla prototype. Paine also went on to direct the 2011 sequel “Revenge of the Electric Car” featuring Tesla along with GM and other EV-curious automakers.
Musk himself gave the sequel a glowing review on social media back in 2019. “ Great electric car documentary about early days of Tesla, GM Volt, Nissan Leaf & Gadget. So much has happened since then,” Musk inscribed on Twitter, the social media site he acquired in 2022.
📊 Industry & Real-World Impact
Yes, so much has happened since then. Gibney is well known for his deep dives into American entrepreneurs run amok and other topics dealing with dark side of success and power in the hands of ethically bankrupt people, almost all of them men (Gibney’s 2019 HBO documentary on the now-imprisoned Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is one notable exception).
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🔮 Strategic Outlook & What Lies Ahead
In “Musk,” Gibney takes another crack at the power nexus so deftly wielded by Elon Musk, all the way on up to the entrepreneur’s post as chief chainsaw-wielder at US President Donald Trump’s “DOGE” budget-cutting office.
“Musk” also fills the gaps in Musk’s home life, including interviews with the mothers of his 14 or so children, which presumably makes for juicy viewing. That helps explain why Bleecker Street was aiming for a wide release, a rather unusual plan for a long-format documentary totaling almost four hours. So unusual, in fact, that Bleecker Street pulled the plug after just one week.
