“Elon Is a Nuclear Bomb”: First Trailer Drops for Nearly Four-Hour Musk Documentary

Bleecker Street has released the first teaser for “Musk,” a documentary investigation into Elon Musk and his growing influence over technology, geopolitics, and media. The monumental film is directed by Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney, known for his work on the Enron collapse, the closed world of Scientology, and the Theranos fraud.

A Rocket Crash and an Examination of Power

The short promo is built around the metaphor of a space launch. Voiceovers initially praise the SpaceX chief as the greatest entrepreneur and engineer of our time, but as the rocket veers off course and crashes, the speakers’ rhetoric shifts to alarm and accusations of authoritarianism. The clip ends with the line: “Elon is a nuclear bomb.”

In an interview with the Associated Press, Gibney stressed that he wasn’t trying to make a complimentary or standard chronological biopic. The film is conceived as a critical examination of the unchecked power of a private individual — from the impact of Starlink satellites on military conflicts to the purchase of the social network Twitter (X) and the billionaire’s political ambitions.

Musk himself categorically refused to be interviewed for the project: back at the start of production in 2023, he publicly called the upcoming film a commissioned hit piece.

225-Minute Runtime and Premiere Date

The “four-hour film” description is almost accurate. According to the Venice Film Festival, the official runtime is 225 minutes (3 hours 45 minutes), so festival screenings include a ten-minute intermission.

Gibney managed to record candid interviews with witnesses to key moments in Musk’s life. The film features his ex-wife Justine Musk, Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard, influential tech journalist Kara Swisher, and “godfather of AI” Geoffrey Hinton.

His influence reaches everywhere. His ambitions reach even further. Now, Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney takes on the question we can no longer ignore – where do they stop? MUSK is showing at Regal October 23. #MuskMovie pic.twitter.com/7tyzN0mpYU

— Regal (@RegalMovies) September 7, 2026

According to Variety, following its out-of-competition screening in Venice and the Toronto festival, the film will hit limited US theaters on October 16, 2026. The distributor will announce the digital release date on streaming services later.