Who Killed The Elon Musk Movie? Nope, Not That Billionaire, Must Be Another One

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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 Electric Car Documentary Elon Musk Wants You To See

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.

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.

Who Killed The Elon Musk Documentary?

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).

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.

As of this writing, Bleecker Street continues to list hundreds of screens on its website. However, according to film industry press, that page is out of date. The “Musk” trailer  is also available on the Bleecker Street website, but if you want to see the whole film — all 3 hours and 52 minutes — take a trip to New York City and catch it at the Angelika Film Center & Cafe on Houston Street.

That’s it. Only one location reportedly remains from the 472 planned screens. If you know of any others, drop a note in the comment thread.

No, Really, Who Pulled The Plug?

Coincidentally or not, on October 15 the Hollywood Reporter was among those reporting that Bleecker Street suddenly has a new owner. “Indie Distributor Bleecker Street Sold to Firm Backed By Billionaire Pierre Omidyar,” reads the headline, referring to eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.

“The capital from the acquisition will allow Bleecker to continue to operate its film business and build out its event label, Crosswalk,” HR continued, taking note of Bleecker Street’s already prominent position in the indie/specialty film markets.

“Currently, the company is in theaters with Alex Gibney‘s Elon Musk doc, Musk, which will be expanding its theatrical release this weekend,” HR added somewhat optimistically, considering the state of affairs just a few days later.

However, HR reporter Mia Galuppo did take note of the writing on the wall. “Ironically, Bleecker’s new owner Outerlight backs streamer Passionflix, which is run by Elon Musk’s sister Tosca,” Galuppo reported.

Make of that what you will. For the record, Passionflix is a niche streamer specializing in romance, as the name suggests. “Passionflix set out to create a dedicated streaming service for romance audiences, combining a curated content library with original productions,” explains the streaming platform Leyra.

What’s Next For Elon Musk…And Starlink

Evidently the film bug runs deep in the Musk family. In yet another coincidence-or-not, last week Semafor scooped word that Musk has invested in $1 billion in Skydance, the newly formed conglomerate birthed from the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount. Among a long list of cable TV and sports/entertainment ventures, Skydance is now the proud owner of the news organizations CNN and CBS News along with Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures, HBO, and Paramount+.

The other billionaire behind Skydance is Oracle founder Larry Ellison, known for his close ties to Elon Musk and right wing politics. Semafor cites the billionaire-level cable executive and investor John Malone, who surmises that Ellison leveraged his considerable stake in Tesla stocks to amass the big bucks for the Skydance venture. In the same article, Malone also indicates that Ellison financed the deal that put Twitter into Musk’s hands.

But wait, there’s more. Semafor additionally notes that industry observers are already anticipating a “more expansive partnership between Musk’s lower-earth-orbit satellite network, Starlink, and Skydance.”

To be fair, the web of Elon Musk’s family and friend circle extends beyond the Bleecker Street sale and the Skydance merger, and those connections are just one factor with a possible connection to the abrupt cancellation of an uflattering documentary about one of the most politically powerful private citizens to haunt the halls of the federal government. Timing-wise, the “Musk” film was set for a tough challenge from another new, long-format documentary dealing with hucksterism and deception, the new Elizabeth Holmes documentary by Nathan Fielder. Fielder’s film has the added attraction of full frontal nudity, earning a coveted “R” rating to attract adult audiences.

The timing for Gibney’s project could be more fortuitous after Election Day, whereupon the Republican Party is expected to lose its exclusive control over Congress. If the Democrats do gain a majority in the House of Representatives (possibly the Senate, too), they will take over the oversight proceedings that Republican members of Congress have let languish. Musk has already emerged as a principle target due to his role at DOGE as well as in his private sector ventures, giving the “Musk” movie publicity mill a chance to gin up again.

More recently, the call for investigations also includes the widely excoriated manipulation of SpaceX’s Starlink and Starshield satellite services, which crippled Ukraine’s ability to defend itself from Russian attacks last week. That’s fresh material not included in Gibney’s documentary. Perhaps a sequel is already in order…

PSA: If you need to check your registration status, polling place, or any other aspect of the 2026 elections, connect with your local elections office or use a legitimate portal like vote.gov or vote411.org, a project of the League of Women Voters, to find your local information. Whatever you do, avoid “VoteSafe.org,” a partisan voter data collection hub funded by Musk’s America PAC.

Image: “Musk” the documentary by Alex Gibney (screenshot courtesy of Elevation Pictures via YouTube).