Strong festival reviews for “Musk,” a scorching documentary about Elon Musk, have prompted its United States distributor to move up the film’s release by a week, to Oct. 9.
Overseas, however, Universal Pictures has yet to announce any release dates. The uncertainty has led some members of the movie’s filmmaking team to wonder whether political considerations are influencing the rollout. Universal’s response: The overseas release is all systems go — it simply needs more time to set dates across dozens of markets.
“Musk,” directed by the Oscar- and Emmy-winning documentarian Alex Gibney, had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this month and was subsequently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. The documentary, which has dazzled most critics so far, runs nearly four hours, including a 10-minute intermission.
The film scrutinizes Mr. Musk’s businesses and political influence, in particular his work as a senior adviser to President Trump and his association with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. In one sequence that has drawn attention in early screenings, Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel Prize-winning computer scientist, raises the possibility that personal data obtained by DOGE could be used to interfere with the midterm elections.
“Musk” was produced by Jigsaw Productions, which is majority owned by Wendy Schmidt, a billionaire philanthropist by way of Google; and Anonymous Content, a production company whose top investor is Laurene Powell Jobs’s Emerson Collective. Bleecker Street, the independent distributor behind films like “Trumbo” (2015), holds the domestic theatrical rights.
Citing the early reviews and moviegoer demand, Bleecker has decided to release “Musk” on Oct. 9 in New York and Los Angeles. A national run will start on Oct. 16. (Bleecker first made its release plan public in July.)
And for the rest of the world?
Universal — part of NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast — acquired overseas distribution rights for “Musk” in 2023, paying several million dollars. So far, Universal has not announced any release dates, leading some of the people involved with the documentary worried that Universal could be having second thoughts. The concerns surfaced in The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday night, prompting an online backlash against the studio.
Universal declined to make executives available for interviews. In a statement, the studio said, “We’ve always been committed to releasing this film, and our plans haven’t changed.”
A person working on the distribution plan noted that films often open overseas well after their American release, with dates varying by country. The film’s running time, the person said, made it harder to choose dates that would maximize ticket sales.
Fueling the concerns: Media companies have been accused of making concessions to avoid antagonizing the Trump administration.
ABC News and Paramount each paid millions of dollars to settle lawsuits brought by Mr. Trump that many legal experts viewed as weak. CBS was criticized for trying to curry favor with the administration when it canceled Stephen Colbert’s late-night show; CBS said the decision was purely financial. Hollywood studios also steered clear of “The Apprentice,” a critical biopic of Mr. Trump, after his lawyers threatened legal action during the 2024 campaign. That movie ultimately was released by Briarcliff Entertainment, an independent distributor.
Mr. Gibney did not respond to a request for comment. Jigsaw released a statement that read, in part, “Except for one man, everyone in the world wants to see this film.”
Mr. Musk criticized the documentary on X when it was announced in 2023, calling it a “hit piece.” After the film was shown in Venice, he renewed his attacks, calling Mr. Gibney a “bitter old man” with “zero integrity” and dismissing the movie as “boring.” There is no indication that Mr. Musk has seen it.
Alex Spiro, a lawyer at Quinn Emanuel in New York who represents Mr. Musk, sent a letter to Mr. Gibney before the film’s Venice premiere threatening legal action. “This project did not begin as an inquiry,” Mr. Spiro wrote in the letter, a copy of which was viewed by The New York Times. “It began with a conclusion.”
Mr. Spiro added, “You have refused to screen the film, refused to fact-check it with us and refused the witnesses who came to you.” The letter concluded, “Our door is open if you decide to check your facts with the people who know them. If not, we will proceed accordingly.”
Jigsaw Productions pushed back.
“The right to engage in open debate and fact-based examinations of powerful public figures is protected by the First Amendment — something that should be recognized and defended by all Americans, including the associates of Elon Musk, who has proclaimed himself to be a ‘free speech absolutist’,” a Jigsaw statement read in part.
Mr. Gibney is accustomed to fierce resistance from the subjects of his documentaries. “Going Clear,” his 2015 investigation of Scientology, prompted a notable countercampaign by the church. His other films include “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” and “Taxi to the Dark Side,” about the torture and death of an Afghan taxi driver in American military custody.
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