Universal, which holds the international distribution rights to Alex Gibney’s new four-hour documentary about Elon Musk, “wavered” over putting the film out outside North America, the director has said.
Gibney made the remark to the New York Times as the film opened in the US, where it is being released by the independent distributor Bleecker Street. His comment appeared to confirm a Hollywood Reporter story that Universal, which acquired the international rights in 2023, had got cold feet.
Asked by the New York Times, “Did Universal Pictures waver in setting up its international release plans?”, Gibney answered: “Yes.”
A later Variety story suggested Universal had been worried about “legal threats from Musk”, while also reporting that the studio had “always been enthusiastic about releasing the film internationally”. Put to him that it therefore was not a question of legal clearances, Gibney replied: “You can walk and chew gum at the same time.”
According to Gibney, the release is now moving forward again. “We just had a meeting with [Universal], and we’re talking very concretely about a release plan,” he said.
Gibney also said his producer Jessie Deeter, who knew Musk from two earlier films, had made several attempts to secure an interview with him for the documentary. Musk responded by posting “Gibney is a douche” on X, the social media platform owned by Musk-founded company SpaceXAI.
After the film’s premiere at the Venice film festival, Musk posted a series of criticisms of the documentary and insults directed at Gibney, describing it as a “hit piece that misses” and threatening legal action.
Universal declined to comment further and referred to its earlier statement: “We’ve always been committed to releasing this film, and our plans haven’t changed.”
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