Film about Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly in development

Monday, 13 November 2023

Elon Musk says Darren Aronofsky, who will reportedly direct a biopic about the Tesla CEO, is “one of the best”.

The life of one of the most divisive entrepreneurs on the planet, Elon Musk, is reportedly coming to big screens near you.

Variety reports that fast-growing independent producer A24 has won the rights to produce a biopic about Musk based on Walter Isaacson’s authorised autobiography on the tech mogul, published earlier this year.

The film is set to be directed by Darren Aronofsky, having previously directed Black Swan, Requiem for a Dream, The Fighter, and most recently The Whale – helping Brendan Fraser earn an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

The film is expected to cover the challenges Musk has faced with X (formerly Twitter) and with self-driving cars.

A24, meanwhile, has become one of the most well-known independents in the industry, thanks to celebrated projects like Uncut Gems, Lady Bird, Room, and 2023 Best Picture winner, Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Musk appeared to confirm the reports, responding to an article on X (formerly Twitter), saying: “Glad Darren is doing it. He is one of the best.” It is not yet known who will play the South African entrepreneur on screen.

Isaacson’s biography upon which the biopic will be based was produced off the back of the author spending two years with Musk, his colleagues, and his family – attending company meetings, speaking to industry foes, and more.

The intimate 670-page biopic covers Musk’s fraught acquisition of Twitter in late 2022 (Twitter, now known as X, is currently worth less than half of the US$44b he paid for it), and the 52-year-old’s grappling with self-driving technology in his Tesla EVs.

Musk rose to prominence at the turn of the new millennium, founding X.com in 1999 and SpaceX in 2002. The former was merged with a company that would eventually become Paypal, with Musk taking a substantial payout as part of the deal.

He became an early investor in Tesla after learning that the brand was looking to create a two-seater electric sports car, going on to become the brand’s CEO and arguably the most well-known motoring chief executive in the world today.

Today, Tesla is the world’s largest seller of fully electric vehicles, although the gap between itself and rivals from China (headed by BYD) is closing.

As of November 1, Musk is listed as the richest person in the world, worth an estimated US$217b, placing him ahead of Bernard Arnault, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, and Warren Buffett.