Elon Musk Biopic in Development at A24, Darren Aronofsky to Direct

Acclaimed Darren Aronofsky is set to make a film about the life of controversial tech mogul Elon Musk. The movie, which will be produced by A24, is based on the recently-published book by Walter Isaacson, whose biography of Steve Jobs also inspired the movie Jobs in 2015. It's unlikely the movie will address too much of the controversy around Musk, since the Isaacson book is an authorized biography and Musk himself took to social media to say that he was glad Aronofsky is making the movie. The book was the object of a bidding war between a few different studios and filmmakers, according to Variety.

Musk, who comes from a wealthy South African family, rose to fame in 2002 as the founder of SpaceX. His father, an engineer and politician, owned part of a South African emerald mine, which opened up arguably the most significant aspect of his career -- that of investor. His millions transformed into billions over years of investments in tech companies like Paypal and Tesla, where he could serve as an angel investor in exchange for large ownership stakes, then benefit massively when the companies succeeded.

As of 2023 (assuming his Wikipedia page remains updated, which given Musk's never-ending online presence seems likely), Musk is the founder, chairman, CEO and chief technology officer of SpaceX; CEO, product architect and former chairman of Tesla, Inc.; owner, chairman and CTO of X Corp.; founder of the Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI; and president of the Musk Foundation.

Aronofsky most recently directed The Whale, last year's Oscar favorite, which landed Brendan Fraser his Academy Award for Best Actor. His resume includes The Fountain, Black Swan, and Requiem For a Dream.

Musk spent years as a pop culture icon, the epitome of a "genius inventor," with appearances on The Simpsons and in Iron Man 2, among other things. Shortly after he was named the world's wealthiest individual, he initiated a private takeover of Twitter, buying the site for over $40 billion. After initially pitching the sale, he tried to back out, but was forced to complete it. 

After taking over, Musk slashed staffing and other costs, and started charging for premium features, saying that it was an attempt to right the company's financial ship and create a more robust marketplace of ideas. Consumers seem to have largely disagreed, with celebrities and other power users leaving in large numbers amid moderation concerns. According to a new report from Axios, Twitter (or "X") usage has significantly dropped in the first year of Elon Musk's ownership. Downloads of the app have dropped 38% between October 2022 and September 2023 globally, while dropping 57% in the U.S. alone.