'Musk' Documentary Pre-Orders Soar After Social Media Ad Suppression

Alex Gibney's documentary "Musk" has earned just $672,000 in three weeks at the box office, but its $20 PVOD (premium video-on-demand) pre-orders are outpacing "The Odyssey" on Apple and ranking among the platform's top purchased titles a full week before release. Kent Sanderson, CEO of distributor Bleecker Street, told IndieWire: "I think it'll be the most pre-ordered movie in my entire career of doing this."

The surge follows a bruising theatrical run in which every major social media platform except one suppressed the film's advertising. Meta and YouTube each pulled Bleecker Street's paid trailer before restoring it and calling the removal an error. TikTok "permanently" suspended the film's account on the weekend "Musk" expanded to 500 theaters, citing repeated violations of its policy on paying to boost political content. The account came back after two days. X, owned by the film's subject, did not run the ads at all.

The New York Times recently reported that Elon Musk has given $276 million to Republican groups and his super PAC since July ahead of the midterm elections. Yet "Musk," which runs nearly four hours, is not primarily a political film — it covers his broader influence on the world, well beyond his ties to the Trump administration.

What did the platforms actually do?

Sanderson said the takedowns repeated through the entire campaign. "It just happened over and over again throughout the campaign of assets going up and then being taken down and then going up and then being taken down," he said. "The absolute brick wall we hit with TikTok was on the opening Friday of the wide release, and it lasted throughout the weekend."

His team edited the trailer to remove footage of Musk at Trump rallies. The new cut was flagged anyway. Still images and posters fared better than video — which, as Sanderson noted, is hardly the way to sell a movie. He also found the platforms' review and approval process less transparent than expected, and said he's never seen suppression on this scale in his career. (He jokes that Bleecker's other fall release, Mike Leigh's "Tender Loving Care," is unlikely to face the same "shadow ban.")

"I'm not a conspiracy theorist by nature, but I will say that it was frustrating," Sanderson said. "It was a frustrating and confusing process for everybody."

What does this change for the film's release?

Bleecker Street has moved the PVOD release up from late November to November 6 — which Sanderson says is literally the soonest the digital delivery can be turned around, despite pressure from people who wanted the film out before next week's midterms. The PVOD rental will include a slightly extended cut, and the late-November window was crowded in any case.

The theatrical picture was tough beyond the ad bans. "Musk" went wide against new openings "Clayface" and "Wicker," while the documentary "You Can See Everything" tripled its screen count. A four-hour film can occupy the real estate of two other titles, and Sanderson acknowledges it's a big ask for exhibitors — though he stresses theaters were never hesitant to book it for political reasons. "Musk" will continue playing in select theaters through this weekend and beyond.

Sanderson can't quantify the box-office damage from the ad suppression, only that it "undoubtedly" hurt. He's also in active discussions with HBO and HBO Max about a later streaming release — something people began doubting after Musk invested $1 billion in David Ellison's Skydance, which now owns HBO. "I've gotten no hesitation from them whatsoever," he said. "If something's happening on a higher level, I'm not aware of it."

Sanderson confirmed the authenticity of a legal letter Musk's lawyer sent to Gibney and the film team; Musk has not contacted Bleecker Street directly.

Why does this go beyond one film?

The same weekend "Musk" went wide, the No Kings Rally had its Instagram account suspended for similar political reasons. Sanderson's team has been talking with that organization about navigating the same experience.

"It is beyond just the film business. It is about free speech and being able to amplify your message," Sanderson said. "I understand that there's a fine line, and you don't want dangerous content being put out in the world, but this is by definition not dangerous content, and I'm not sure that the social media companies should be the ones to figure out that line."

"Musk" is in theaters now and arrives on PVOD on November 6 — a release plan rewritten by the very platforms the film's subject controls.