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Talking Heads frontman David Byrne is returning to the Oscar race after writing and performing an original song for Alex Gibney's Elon Musk documentary, "Musk."
The track, "Let Me Sell You a Dream," was co-written with Oscar-nominated composer Daniel Pemberton and appears in the 235-minute film.
''I was thrilled when David agreed to write, with our composer Daniel Pemberton, and perform the final song in the film,'' Gibney says.
This marks Byrne's first potential trip back to the Oscars since 1988, when he shared the Academy Award for best original score for "The Last Emperor" with Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su, nearly four decades ago.
Daniel Pemberton, meanwhile, is no stranger to the category, having picked up a best original song nomination in 2021 for "Hear My Voice," written with Celeste for "The Trial of the Chicago 7."
"Musk" will world premiere out of competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on Sept. 8, before moving on to the Toronto International Film Festival.
Bleecker Street will then release the documentary in U.S. theaters on Oct. 16, a run that also qualifies its original song, "Let Me Sell You a Dream," for consideration at the 2027 Oscars.
At nearly four hours long, the film is one of the most ambitious nonfiction projects of Gibney's career.
He has described it as a "definitive and unvarnished examination" of Elon Musk, and early reactions have already labeled it "scathing." The documentary marks Gibney's latest deep dive into a major, controversial figure, this time turning his lens on the world's richest man.
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