Darren Aronofsky to direct new Elon Musk biopic for A24
The American director Darren Aronofsky has confirmed that he’s working on a biopic about the businessman and managing director of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk.
The screenplay for the new movie will be based on Walter Isaacson’s biography of the controversial public figure released in September. After a hotly-contested bidding war, A24 came out on top, with the indie company due to produce and distribute the film in the near future. The company previously worked with Aronofsky for the release of 2022’s Oscar winner, The Whale.
Isaacson’s previous biography about the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs was made into a movie in 2015, directed by Danny Boyle, which starred Michael Fassbender, Seth Rogen and Kate Winslet.
Musk, the South African-born American entrepreneur, is best known for co-founding the payment service PayPal and the automobile company Tesla Motors, as well as forming SpaceX in 2002. After purchasing Twitter in 2022, Musk has become a figure of great controversy, rebranding the social media to X whilst bringing all of the right-wing commentators back to the service after they were previously banned.
Meanwhile, this will be the first foray into real-world drama for Aronofsky, who has long preferred provocative dramas often involving religious themes, including 2010’s ‘Best Picture’ nominee Black Swan, 2014’s Noah and 2017’s Mother.
2022’s The Whale won two Oscars at the 2023 Academy Awards, walking away with statuettes for ‘Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling’ and ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role’ for Brendan Fraser. Aronofsky’s work has long attracted attention at the awards shows largely thanks to the provocative nature of his films and scripts. Despite this, the filmmaker has never won an Oscar, only being nominated for ‘Best Director’ in 2011.
Take a look at the trailer for The Whale below in preparation for Aronofsky’s upcoming biopic.
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