Elon Musk‘s wealth couldn’t help his nearly four-hour documentary succeed at the box office. Released nearly two weeks ago after several delays, Alex Gibney‘s documentary Musk has struggled at the box office. The film earned approximately $306,00 over the weekend, falling far behind Nathan Fielder‘s documentary about Elizabeth Holmes.
According to Box Office Mojo, Musk opened in four theaters on October 9, 2026. The film expanded to 472 theaters the following week and had grossed approximately $394,000 domestically at the time of writing. This performance comes despite the film’s strong critical reception. The film holds a 97% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes, but that didn’t seem to help it attract audiences.
How the Elon Musk documentary compares to You Can See Everything at the box office
Fielder’s You Can See Everything, which follows Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, has performed strongly at the box office. A24’s new film grossed $15 million over the past weekend, which is almost 38 times Musk’s box office earnings. Playing in 855 theaters, the film earned more during its opening weekend than Melania grossed during its entire theatrical run. As for Musk, while it enjoyed an influx of earnings on Friday due to theater expansion, the turnout dropped by an average of 16% the following days.
Musk landed at No. 20 on the weekend chart behind Angel and the Badman and The Social Reckoning. The film originally premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September. Over the course of almost 4 hours, the film traces Musk’s journey from being a Silicon Valley entrepreneur to becoming the world’s richest man. It examines Musk’s leadership at Tesla, SpaceX, and X, as well as his political alliances and influence. The film also features interviews with Justine Musk, Ashley St. Clair, Kara Swisher, Tesla co-founder Martin Eberhard, and more.
Musk does not appear in the documentary and has previously described “hit piece.”
Originally reported on ComingSoon.net.
