Oscar-winning documentary maker Alex Gibney has said Universal hesitated over the international rollout of his film Musk after Elon Musk sent a formal legal notice in September. Gibney made the remarks in an interview with Nicole Sperling of The New York Times that was published on Sunday 11 October.
Gibney did not describe his private conversations with Universal, which is handling the film outside North America, in any detail. He did suggest that the studio’s caution went further than routine legal clearance, and he confirmed that Universal had responded to the notice from Musk. He said he had recently met the studio and that the two sides were now talking about a concrete release plan. He also raised the possibility that Universal saw a film about the world’s richest man as politically sensitive, while adding that only the studio could answer that. “You can walk and chew gum at the same time,” he said.
The dispute began on 3 September, when Musk sent a legal notice to Jigsaw Productions in which he called the film a “hit piece”. On 17 September, after The Hollywood Reporter reported that Universal was pulling back from releases outside North America, the studio said its plans had not changed. Universal gave the Times the same answer, saying it remained committed to releasing the film.
Musk runs for four hours, with a 10-minute intermission, and follows its subject from his childhood as the son of an emerald mine investor through his technology career, his ownership of Twitter, now X, his relationship with Donald Trump and the federal job cuts carried out through DOGE. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival to strong reviews and currently holds a 97 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. TheWrap critic Ben Croll called the documentary punishing but essential viewing, noting that it unfolds across nearly 20 chapters and gives extended attention to corporate misconduct at Tesla.
Bleecker Street opened the film in a limited number of US cinemas on Friday, and a nationwide expansion is set for 16 October. The timing and shape of its release in the rest of the world remain unsettled while Gibney and Universal work through their plans. For now, the four-hour portrait is available only to audiences in North America, and the director’s comments are likely to keep attention on how studios handle films about powerful public figures.
