Hollywood releases films focused on Zuckerberg, Musk, Holmes and Altman
Four 2026 releases put major technology figures on screen as public concern about AI and data centers persists.
By Maya Lindqvist · Senior Technology Correspondent
3 min read
A run of 2026 films centered on prominent technology figures is bringing the tech backlash to movie theaters. The projects arrive as surveys cited by CNBC show substantial public concern about artificial intelligence and data centers, though there is no evidence in the available reporting that the films have changed those views.
The slate includes Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning, Alex Gibney’s documentary Musk, Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s You Can See Everything, and Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial. Together, the films focus on Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, according to CNBC and The Verge.
Which tech leaders are portrayed in the 2026 film slate?
The Social Reckoning opened in theaters on Oct. 9. Sony Pictures describes the film as a companion piece to Sorkin’s 2010 The Social Network, inspired by the events surrounding Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen; its synopsis follows Haugen and Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horwitz as they expose internal information about the social network.
CNBC reported that Musk, Gibney’s nearly four-hour documentary about Elon Musk, was receiving a limited release. The Verge described the documentary as chronicling Musk’s past while asking why the public allowed him to accumulate power within governments around the world. Musk criticized the film on X, calling it without integrity, according to CNBC.
You Can See Everything, a documentary about Holmes released through A24, was scheduled for Oct. 16, CNBC reported. Artificial, due in theaters at Christmas, depicts Altman and his brief removal as OpenAI’s chief executive in 2023, CNBC said. Altman told CNBC that he understood public anxiety and did not mind if audiences directed that anxiety at him through satire.
How does the release schedule fit wider concern about technology?
The clustering is a release-calendar trend, not proof of a broader cultural effect. The Verge characterized the new films as more critical of their central figures than The Social Network, while also presenting that conclusion as its own analysis of Hollywood’s response to Silicon Valley.
Separate reporting has documented public unease about technology. CNBC reported in August, citing Pew Research Center, that more than half of Americans said they were more concerned than excited about the expanding use of AI in daily life, up from 37% in 2021. CNBC also reported that a Quinnipiac poll found 73% of Americans concerned about AI’s threat to human survival, while a Pew survey found 54% viewed data centers as harmful to the environment.
David Kirby, who directs Cal Poly’s Science, Technology & Society program, told CNBC that films and stories can be persuasive. That is an expert assessment of the medium, however, rather than research showing that this particular group of releases has altered public attitudes toward technology companies or their leaders.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.