Hollywood has never been more fascinated by the people who build our technology. Fifteen years ago, a film about a Harvard student coding a website felt like a gamble. Today, Sam Altman and Elon Musk are getting the big-screen treatment while they are still running their companies.

The reason is simple: tech billionaires now shape elections, jobs and how we talk to each other. Their stories mix genius, ego, betrayal and enormous power, which is exactly what drama needs. Here are the movies that capture that world best, from the classics to this year's most talked-about releases.

The classics that started it all

The Social Network (2010) is still the gold standard. Directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, it follows Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) from a Harvard dorm room to the lawsuits that came with Facebook's success. It shows that the hardest part of building a network is often keeping your friends.

Steve Jobs (2015) takes a bold approach. Michael Fassbender plays Jobs in three backstage scenes, each just before a major product launch. Danny Boyle directs and Sorkin writes, and the result is a sharp portrait of a brilliant, difficult founder.

Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) is a TV film about the rivalry between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates in the early PC era. It is dated in places, but it remains a fun look at how two young founders shaped the computers we use today.

Today's billionaires on screen

Artificial (2026) is the Sam Altman movie everyone is talking about. Luca Guadagnino directs Andrew Garfield as the OpenAI CEO, dramatising his firing and rehiring in late 2023. Mark Rylance plays AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton. It premiered at the New York Film Festival and reaches US cinemas through Neon on December 25. An India release date has not been announced yet.

Musk (2026) is Alex Gibney's nearly four-hour documentary on Elon Musk and his growing influence on politics. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September and opened in US theatres on October 16. Universal is handling its international release, but no India date has been announced yet.

The Social Reckoning (2026) brings Aaron Sorkin back to Facebook. Jeremy Strong now plays Zuckerberg, and Mikey Madison plays whistleblower Frances Haugen, whose 2021 leak exposed the company's internal research. It opened in Indian and US cinemas on October 9, so it is the one you can watch on the big screen right now.

The satire you shouldn't miss

Mountainhead (2025) comes from Jesse Armstrong, the creator of Succession. Four fictional tech billionaires gather at a mountain retreat while their own products push the world into chaos. The characters are invented, but viewers will spot real-world parallels in every scene.

The takeaway

If you watch only one, start with The Social Network. Then pair Artificial with Musk to see how today's most powerful founders are being portrayed while their stories are still unfolding.