An Elon Musk biopic is in development at A24. Oscar-nominated Black Swan director, Darren Aronofsky has signed on to helm the upcoming biographical film, Variety is reporting.
The movie’s screenplay will be based on Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography of the controversial tech mogul, which was published in September. As preparation for the book, Isaacson shadowed Musk for two years.
The writer was allowed to attend the tech giant’s meetings. Isaacson was also granted the opportunity to interview the Musk, as well as his family, friends, co-workers and other people involved in his life.
Isaacson is also known for penning the bestselling 2011 book Steve Jobs. The book was then adapted into the 2015 Universal film of the same name, which stars Michael Fassbender as the titular Apple CEO. The Academy Award-nominated screen adaptation was scribed by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Danny Boyle.
There was heated competition amongst studios and filmmakers to option Isaacson’s book. A24 ultimately won the bidding war, and Aronofsky signed on to helm the biopic.
Aronofsky, who most recently directed last year’s Oscar-winning drama, The Whale, starring Brendan Fraser, is known for his surreal filmmaking style. The writer-helmer’s movies often include psychological elements.
Besides The Whale and Black Swan, his past credits include Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler and Mother! For his work on Black Swan, Aronofsky was nominated for the best director Oscar, while lead star Natalie Portman won the best actress Academy Award.
Elon Musk first rose to prominence when he founded SpaceX, a spacecraft manufacturing company, in 2002. He was also an early investor in Tesla, and eventually climbed the ranks to become the automotive giant’s chairman. He stepped down from that role in 2018, in a deal with U.S. financial regulators after a series of misleading social media posts. However, he still serves as the company’s product architect and CEO.
Most recently, Musk made the controversial decision to purchase Twitter for $44 billion, and rebranded it to X. Since taking over the social media platform, he has made several changes that have resulted in backlash, including laying off a large number of the company’s employees, charging users for verification and removing headlines from links shared on the site.
Elon Musk is currently the wealthiest person in the world. Both Bloomberg and Forbes estimate his net worth to be more than $220 billion, as of last month.
Elon Musk, 52, was born and raised in South Africa. According to Isaacson, the tech giant suffered mental torture at the hands of his father Errol, from who he is now estranged, while growing up.
Elon Musk addressed the news about his upcoming biopic in a post on X earlier today. In response to a post by X News Daily, the businessman stated: “Glad Darren is doing it. He is one of the best.”