Universal Pictures is reportedly rethinking the release of a forthcoming documentary about former trillionaire Elon Musk.
The film studio is getting cold feet about the movie it spent a significant sum on to acquire the rights, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The documentary Musk, in-depth look at the world’s richest man, including some unsavory aspects of him.
Musk has raged against the documentary, claiming it’s a “hit piece” and a “psy op.” He’s also called it “boring,” although there is no indication he’s even seen the film. His lawyer, Alex Spiro, has put the film company “on notice.”
However, a source told The Wrap that Universal remains “committed to releasing the film and those plans have not changed. The studio is currently working through our international release strategy.”
Universal Pictures bought the rights to the documentary for every region except North America in 2023 for an undisclosed multimillion-dollar amount. Its parent company, TV giant Comcast, has made moves that have been perceived as an attempt to curry favor with the Trump administration.
While Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts has frequently butted heads with Trump, the company still donated between $5 million and $10 million to Trump’s ballroom. Comcast has not publicly verified the figure.
The Venice Film Festival showed the movie earlier this month, enthralling fans as the audience reportedly applauded for five minutes and shouted “Thank you!” at director Alex Gibney when it ended.
HBO has the rights to the movie in North America, but some are questioning if it would even be released on HBO in the region, given that HBO is currently owned by Warner Bros., which is set to be acquired by Paramount, owned by the Trumpy nepo-billionaire David Ellison.
Gibney has said he worries politics will overshadow his film.
“I do worry about the storm clouds on the horizon and the fact that [HBO is] in the midst of a takeover battle by Paramount,” Gibney said during a keynote conversation at the film festival.
“Larry Ellison, who is cited in the film, is one of Elon’s friends and one of the investors in his takeover of Twitter. And his son David Ellison has shown he’ll twist whatever facts are at his disposal in order to please the Capo dei Capi, who happens to be the president of the United States,” he elaborated.
Musk and Trump have had a tumultuous relationship.
They appeared thick as thieves at the start of Trump’s turn, but less than six months into Trump’s second term, the pair had an explosive blowup online, as they traded barbs over social media. The feud reached a climax when Musk accused Trump of being in the Epstein files in a tweet he later deleted.
While Trump has since said he wishes Musk well, and the two have been seen together, their friendship has not returned to what it was.
