Alex Gibney’s latest project, the Elon Musk documentary “Musk,” is already in theaters. But when news broke last week that David Ellison’s Paramount had officially bought Warner Bros. Discovery, the director admits he was “concerned” about the doc’s future release on HBO.
“Musk,” the unflinching and often unflattering nearly four-hour look at the richest man in the world, was produced by HBO, which is under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella. With Ellison, who once reportedly considered bringing Musk on as an equity investor in Paramount, now owning WBD, would he shut down plans to show “Musk” on HBO after its theatrical run?
“I was concerned until recently,” Gibney told Business Insider over a video chat on Wednesday. “I’ve been told that they will air it and that even David Ellison very well knows about it and promises he will air it.”
Gibney added that, as of now, “very specific plans” are in the works for HBO to air “Musk” sometime in January.
HBO declined to comment; Skydance did not respond to a request for comment.
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Gibney’s history with HBO goes back decades and has resulted in some of the Oscar winner’s most popular works, including 2015’s “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief” and his 2019 Elizabeth Holmes documentary, “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.”
Airing “Musk” on HBO after its theatrical release would follow the playbook of “Going Clear”: After a headline-grabbing theatrical release, the Scientology documentary had a successful HBO premiere, with its opening night on the network delivering the best performance for a doc in two years.
“Musk” delves into the titular billionaire’s life and career, focusing on his successes with Tesla and SpaceX, his controversial acquisition of Twitter, which he renamed X; his relationships with the mothers of his children, and his time in the Trump administration as the head of DOGE.
Musk himself has readily voiced his displeasure with the documentary, though it’s unclear if he’s seen it. “Gibney just assembled a hit list of people who either have an axe to grind or don’t even know me (but still have an axe to grind),” Musk wrote on X. He has ZERO integrity. Horrible human.”
“Musk” is in theaters nationwide through Bleecker Street.
