Luca Guadagnino’s Sam Altman Movie ‘Artificial’ Finds New Hope with Neon After Amazon Exit
Luca Guadagnino’s anticipated film ‘Artificial’ appears to have found a new direction after being dropped by Amazon MGM Studios. This movie, which presents a fictionalized narrative inspired by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the tumultuous events surrounding the company, is now reportedly being sought by Neon for U.S. distribution rights.
The news was initially shared by Puck co-founder and journalist Matt Belloni. According to his report, Neon is currently negotiating a deal to bring the film to theaters following Amazon MGM’s decision to withdraw from the project.
Originally, ‘Artificial’ was slated for an early 2027 release through Amazon MGM. However, the studio opted out shortly after announcing a significant partnership with Altman’s OpenAI, which included Amazon Web Services providing cloud services to OpenAI in a massive agreement valued at approximately $50 billion.
After Amazon’s decision, representatives for the film began showcasing it to other major studios and distributors. Reports indicate that companies such as Netflix, A24, Focus Features, and Warner Bros.’ Clockwork label viewed the film but opted not to proceed.
Written by ‘Saturday Night Live’ writer Simon Rich, the film centers on a fictional version of the events that unfolded at OpenAI in 2023. During that time, Altman was abruptly removed as CEO by the company’s board of directors, only to return days later, leading to one of the most significant leadership crises in the tech industry.
Andrew Garfield stars as Altman, with Yura Borisov portraying OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, depicted as a key player in the conflict. The cast also features Monica Barbaro as OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, Mark Rylance as AI expert Geoffrey Hinton, and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk.
The project has already drawn comparisons to ‘The Social Network,’ David Fincher’s acclaimed film about Facebook’s inception and its founder Mark Zuckerberg. However, reports suggest that ‘Artificial’ adopts a much darker tone, particularly in its exploration of the risks and cultural implications of artificial intelligence.
On ‘The Town’ podcast, Belloni shared insights from one viewer who described the film as “grim, it’s dark, it goes there, and it makes you feel bad after watching it about the future of the human race.”
Belloni noted that Amazon MGM felt the final cut of the movie was darker than they had anticipated. The studio later issued a statement explaining its decision to part ways with the project while still commending Guadagnino’s work.
“We have the utmost respect and admiration for Luca Guadagnino as an award-winning filmmaker — not to mention a longstanding relationship that we hope to continue,” Amazon MGM stated. “We believe that ‘Artificial’ will be better served if it were released by a different studio and are working closely with the filmmaking team to find the film a new home.”
Guadagnino has a history with Amazon MGM, having released his previous films ‘Challengers’ and ‘After the Hunt’ through the studio. ‘Challengers,’ featuring Zendaya, became his most successful film at the box office, grossing around $96 million globally. In contrast, ‘After the Hunt,’ which also starred Andrew Garfield, had a much weaker performance, earning about $9.4 million.
With Neon now expressing interest, ‘Artificial’ could soon secure a new distributor and have the opportunity to reach audiences. While the film’s future remains uncertain, it seems far from over.
Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!