Elon Musk Documentary 'Musk' Sets International Release Dates, Opening in the UK in January

Universal Pictures International will release Alex Gibney's documentary about Elon Musk, Musk, around the world, and the first overseas dates are now set. Variety reported the schedule on 6 November.

The film opens in the UK on 15 January next year. It follows in Germany on 21 January, Spain on 5 February, France on 17 February and Australia on 25 February.

The documentary runs 3 hours and 45 minutes. It examines Musk's rise to global influence. Before the international rollout, it had its U.S. theatrical release in October through Bleecker Street, an independent distributor, a run that Variety also covered.

The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival. It then played Toronto and London, and its festival tour continues to the Lisbon Film Festival, to IDFA in Amsterdam (the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) and to the Stockholm Film Festival. Festivals like these give films a chance to be seen by buyers and distributors before they reach a wider public.

The film has drawn public comment from its maker and its subject. In September, Gibney told Reuters that fear had shadowed the making of the film. He described Musk as "extremely" dangerous to democracy. Musk rejected the film as biased.

Gibney has also spoken about the studio behind the release. In October, he told The Guardian that Universal Pictures had wavered in setting up its international release plans for the film. Earlier, The Hollywood Reporter had reported that Universal was getting cold feet about releasing the documentary.

For cinema-goers, the news is a calendar. Audiences in the UK, Germany, Spain, France and Australia now have dates to pencil in, and each country's opening arrives roughly a week or two after the last. Anyone planning a trip to a festival screening or a cinema visit should check local listings, since dates and screen counts can change as distributors confirm bookings.