Elon Musk Denounces New Documentary Based on His Life

Alex Gibney detailed his run-in with Elon Musk in 2023 over a new documentary based on Musk's life.

The filmmaker, responsible for Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Taxi to the Dark Side , and Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief , is currently making a documentary about Elon Musk.

Given Musk’s corresponding outburst on Twitter following the project’s announcement in early 2023, it seems like it's not a favorable reflection on the owner of Tesla and SpaceX.

“When it was announced, Elon tweeted on X, ‘Gibney is a douche,’” Gibney told Deadline recently. “I was like, ‘really? That’s your go-to? That’s number one?’ So I tweeted, ‘douché.’” Musk also called the documentary “ a hit piece,” with Gibney firing back “How would you know?”

Gibney’s previous documentaries haven’t pulled their punches. He scrutinized Elizabeth Holmes' Theranos scandal in The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley , and cast his lens on drugs cheat Lance Armstrong in The Armstrong Lie .

The film is described as “a rigorous portrait” of the Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX CEO, according to Zhang Xin, founder of one of its producers Closer Media. “[Musk] is undeniably one of the most influential figures of our time,” and now is the moment “to take on the challenge of examining Musk and his impact on the world.”

Gibney isn’t the only one examining Musk. Darren Aronofsky is to direct an Elon Musk biopic from A24 .