Universal Snaps Up International Rights To Alex Gibney’s “Unvarnished” Elon Musk Movie

Andreas Wiseman

2 October 2023 at 10:01 am·2-min read

EXCLUSIVE: Universal Pictures Content Group has acquired international rights to Alex Gibney’s latest documentary Musk, about the lightning-rod entrepreneur and businessman.

Negotiations first began in Cannes with Black Bear International and the multimillion-dollar pact is among the biggest ever for a documentary out of the Cannes Market.

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In another lucrative presale we revealed in the spring, HBO Documentary Films pre-bought North American streaming and TV rights to the project. A domestic theatrical release remains in play.

Taxi to the Dark Side Oscar winner and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room nominee Gibney has been working on the project for months. It recently was described by the producers as “a definitive and unvarnished examination” of the provocative X (formerly Twitter) owner.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk recently reassumed his position as the world’s richest man with a net worth in the range of $187B, but the mercurial tech titan has come under fire during his turbulent ownership of X, which he acquired last year in a $44B deal.

The pic is produced by Jigsaw Productions and jointly financed and produced by Closer Media, Anonymous Content via their recently launched sales and finance division AC Independent, and Double Agent. From Jigsaw Productions, Gibney, Jessie Deeter, and Erin Edeiken produce the film with Richard Perello executive-producing.

Joey Marra and Zhang Xin produce with William Horberg executive-producing on behalf of Closer Media. Anonymous Content’s Nick Shumaker and Jessica Grimshaw produce with David Levine executive-producing. Dana O’Keefe produces on behalf of Double Agent with Teddy Schwarzman, Michael Heimler, John Friedberg, Yariv Milchan, and Michael Schaefer executive producing.

The deal with UPCG was negotiated by Jill Silfen for Black Bear.

Helen Parker, EVP of Universal Pictures Content Group, said, “We instantly wanted to attach to this feature as we are big fans of Alex’s previous work and feel confident that he will deliver an insightful portrayal of one of the centuries most provocative characters.”

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