--- title: "Elon Musk Calls Movie About Him That Isn’t Even Out Yet a “Hit Piece”" description: "The director behind \"Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,\" is making a movie about Elon Musk, which the latter has already denounced." date: "2023-03-09" modified: "2023-03-09" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-movie-hit-piece" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Calls Movie About Him That Isn’t Even Out Yet a “Hit Piece” ![The director behind "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief," is making a movie about Elon Musk, which the latter has already denounced.]() *\Image: Philip Pacheco via Getty / Futurism\* ## Early Review Heads up, movie heads and the Elon Musk-curious: there's an upcoming documentary about the controversial billionaire, and it's directed by Alex Gibney, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind "Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief." But even though the project isn't out yet and lacks a release date or confirmed title, Musk has nonetheless taken to Twitter to preemptively decry the movie. "It's a hit piece," Musk [tweeted]() in response to a [tweet]() about the film's announcement. Gibney, though, wasn't going to take the remark lying down. "How would you know?" he [rejoined](). Musk has yet to respond. ## Unflattering Look But given his kneejerk reaction**,** it sounds like Musk might be worried. And to be fair, he has good reason to be. The film's studio described it as a "definitive and unvarnished examination" of Musk, [according to *Variety*](). In other words, the documentary will be a far cry from a hagiographic biopic, which is to be expected if you're vaguely familiar with Gibney's filmography. Take, for example, an earlier documentary of his: "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," which examined corporate fraud perpetrated by high-ranking executives at the company. Gibney has also tackled a tech industry billionaire before: disgraced biotech entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, in his 2019 documentary "The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley." Musk, a tech CEO whose [business practices]() have come under scrutiny at pretty much every company he helms, seems like a natural target for Gibney, especially now that Musk has forced himself further into the limelight with [his acquisition of Twitter](). Indeed, as the richest man in the world, Musk continues to both polarize onlookers and amass legions of fans who won't allow his image to be tarnished. "Now is the moment for a rigorous portrait of Elon Musk, who is undeniably one of the most influential figures of our time," said Zhang Xin, founder of the production company Closer Media, which is producing the film, as quoted by *Variety.* **More on Elon Musk:** *[Elon Musk Finally Relents and Apologizes for Mocking Disabled Twitter Ex-Employee]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()