HBO will air Alex Gibney’s Elon Musk documentary “Musk,” the filmmaker told Business Insider, with a tentative air date in January. The nearly four-hour film, already in theaters through Bleecker Street, takes an unflinching and often unflattering look at the richest man in the world.
Gibney admitted he was “concerned” about its HBO future when news broke that David Ellison’s Paramount had bought Warner Bros. Discovery, HBO’s parent.
“Musk” Follows the “Going Clear” Playbook: Theaters First, Then HBO
Ellison once reportedly considered bringing Musk in as an equity investor in Paramount. But Gibney said he has since been told the film will air, and that Ellison knows about it and promises to air it. “Very specific plans” are in the works. HBO declined to comment, and Skydance did not respond.
The plan follows the playbook of Gibney’s “Going Clear,” which had a headline-grabbing theatrical run before delivering the best opening-night performance for an HBO documentary in two years. Gibney has a decades-long history with the network, including “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.”
“Musk” covers the billionaire’s work at Tesla and SpaceX, his controversial purchase of Twitter, which he renamed X, his relationships with the mothers of his children, and his time leading DOGE. Musk has voiced displeasure, calling Gibney’s sources people with “an axe to grind,” though it is unclear whether he has seen the film.
