Elon Musk documentary pulled from cinemas after two weeks

Alex Gibney’s nearly four-hour documentary Musk is practically gone from American cinemas just two weeks after its national expansion, pulling in a meager $571,902 in box office receipts during its brief theatrical window, according to Gizmodo. Mashable reported that the film started small on Oct. 9 in just four theaters across two cities before distributor Bleecker Street Films ramped up the release to over 450 locations by its second week. But that wider footprint collapsed almost overnight, leaving industry watchers to question whether simple box office math tells the whole story.

Box Office Reality Meets Digital Friction

Running nearly four hours long, the unvarnished documentary covers the Tesla owner’s life from end to end, featuring interviews with the mothers of his 14 children, as Showbiz411 noted. Yet despite near-perfect scores on Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango, the film’s runtime and box office results proved a harsh combination. Per Box Office Mojo data, the film ranked a miserable 20th in domestic box office earnings during its nationwide rollout, hauling less than $1 million total. Showbiz411 pointed out that while standard theatrical releases stretch to 28 days, Bleecker Street pulled the film from nearly all 472 locations within a single week. Compounding the friction, TikTok temporarily disabled the film’s advertising account for alleged political content violations before restoring access 48 hours later.

Elon Musk and Legal Counsel Challenge the Film

Before audiences could even buy a ticket, the project faced heavy resistance from its subject. SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly lashed out at the filmmaker, dismissing the feature as a collection of talking heads with an axe to grind while labeling the director a horrible human. Meanwhile, Musk’s attorney, Alex Spiro, served the production team with a formal legal notice. Bleecker Street itself underwent a sale to eBay founder Pierre Omidyar just as the theatrical rollout imploded. Amid canceled screenings reported by ticket buyers on Reddit—where users asked, I hate to say it’s a conspiracy, but what is it?—Gibney has remained measured. He has directed fans to remaining showtimes with the simple advice to See it while you can, while HBO Documentary Films awaits its turn to stream the project in U.S. homes.