TikTok has restored the advertising account for Alex Gibney’s Musk documentary after suspending it during the film’s North American cinema rollout.
“I can confirm that the advertising account has been restored after an error,” TikTok US spokesperson Mahsau Cullinane told The Verge on 18 October. The platform described the error as technical.
According to The Hollywood Reporter’s original reporting, Bleecker Street was notified on Friday afternoon that its access to paid promotion was being suspended, just as the film expanded into more than 470 North American cinemas.
The documentary’s advertising problems began before its cinema opening. In September, YouTube and Meta initially rejected paid promotions for the film before both companies reversed their decisions. TikTok and Musk-owned X were also reported to have declined advertising for the trailer.
A Meta spokesperson told TheWrap on 26 September that its rejection had been an error. YouTube said the trailer itself had remained available on the platform throughout, but its system had temporarily restricted the version submitted as an advertisement. The company cleared that ad following a review.
Musk examines the billionaire’s rise through technology, business and politics. The Hamptons International Film Festival’s programme describes Gibney drawing on interviews with people from Musk’s personal and professional life, alongside archival footage, news coverage, podcast appearances and online posts. That material forms a portrait of how Musk accumulated his public influence.
David Byrne also contributes the original song ‘Let Me Sell You a Dream’, co-written with composer Daniel Pemberton. The Talking Heads frontman built its lyrics from Musk’s own public statements.
The film opened in four cinemas in New York and Los Angeles before expanding to 472 locations across the US and Canada. The Associated Press reported an estimated US$306,702 for the wider release over the weekend. Those are preliminary box-office figures, with final domestic totals due on Monday in the US.
Bleecker Street continues to list Musk as playing in North American cinemas, with its trailer and cinema finder available through the distributor’s official film page.
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