Musk (2026)

Oscar‑winner Alex Gibney’s four‑hour deep‑dive into the rise of Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk premiered at Venice in September before a limited New York and Los Angeles run. This weekend the film expanded to nearly 500 screens across dozens of U.S. cities, pulling about $120,000 on Friday and projected to earn $385,000 over the weekend. The rollout hit an unexpected snag when TikTok permanently suspended the film’s official account, labeling its content political and in violation of platform policy. The page was taken down within hours, and Bleecker Street, the distributor, is now appealing the decision. Earlier, both YouTube and Meta had initially blocked paid ads for the documentary, only to backtrack after a wave of backlash, while X—Musk’s own platform—has reportedly refused to run any ads for the film or Bleecker Street’s other titles. Musk, who has dismissed the documentary as a “hit piece,” launched a series of attacks on director Gibney on X, calling him a “bitter old man” with “zero integrity.” He alleged the film assembles a “hit list” of critics, though he has not yet seen the movie himself. The documentary, according to Deadline, paints the world’s richest man as petty, narcissistic and detached from personal relationships. The controversy underscores the growing clash between high‑profile subjects and the platforms that control their promotion. As the film battles ad bans and a TikTok suspension, its box‑office performance could become a litmus test for how far a subject’s influence can shape—or stifle— the narrative around his own story.