Gibney: Universal Wavered on 'Musk' Overseas Release — SkimNews
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- Alex Gibney's 3-hour-45-minute Elon Musk documentary "Musk" opened Friday from Bleecker Street, grossing $68,900 across four locations — an average of $17,225 per screen.
- Gibney and producer Jessie Deeter repeatedly sought an interview with Musk, whose only reply was writing "Gibney is a douche" on Twitter; Musk does not appear in the film.
- Elon Musk preemptively attacked the project as a "hit piece" where "dogshit is worth more respect," calling Gibney a "horrible human" with "ZERO integrity."
- Gibney said many of Musk's friends and business associates declined to participate because Musk wouldn't grant permission, though Ashley St. Clair (mother of his 14th child) and first wife Justine Musk did sit for interviews.
- Universal Pictures wavered on planning an international release amid the political climate, though the studio maintained its plans hadn't changed; Musk had reportedly threatened legal action that was overcome.
- Since Musk refused to appear, Gibney created an avatar of him to simulate interviews within the documentary.
Why it matters: Universal's hesitation reflects the political sensitivity of profiling the world's richest man while he wields outsize leverage — reportedly blocking his own friends from cooperating with the project. The $68,900 opening on four screens illustrates how a hostile subject who actively campaigns against his own documentary can constrain even a high-profile release's reach and commercial upside.
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