Luca Guadagnino’s Sam Altman Film ‘Artificial’ Dropped by Amazon After OpenAI Deal — Here’s What Happened

Luca Guadagnino’s nearly completed film Artificial, which focuses on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has been dropped by Amazon MGM Studios and is now being shopped to other studios. The move comes despite the project being close to completion and already having multiple test screenings.

The film stars Andrew Garfield as Sam Altman and explores a dramatic period in the tech CEO’s career, including his sudden firing from OpenAI in 2023 and his later reinstatement. The decision by Amazon to step away from the project has raised attention because of its timing. Earlier in February, Amazon announced a major partnership with OpenAI that included expanding the company’s use of Amazon Web Services and investing around $50 billion into AI development.

Amazon MGM Studios commented on the decision, saying: “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. 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.”

The cast of Artificial is large and includes several well-known actors playing real-life tech and business figures. Monica Barbaro plays former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, Yura Borisov plays former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, and Ike Barinholtz plays Elon Musk. Other cast members include Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Cooper Koch, Billie Lourd, Zosia Mamet, Angus Imrie, Chris O’Dowd, and Mark Rylance.

The screenplay was written by Simon Rich, known for his work on Saturday Night Live. The film focuses on internal conflict at OpenAI during a short but highly publicized leadership crisis involving Sam Altman.

Artificial had already gone through several test screenings before Amazon decided to drop it. Those early screenings reportedly received strong reactions from audiences. The film was also shown to other studios on Thursday as part of the search for a new distributor.

An insider familiar with the screenings said that the film portrays its central figures in a harsh light, saying that the characters based on Sam Altman and Elon Musk are among the least sympathetic in the story and are likely to be viewed negatively by audiences.

It is also reported that Amazon had access to early versions of the script before Guadagnino became attached to the project. This suggests that the studio had long been aware of the film’s direction before its final production stage.

Another detail noted is the personal and business connections involved in the broader tech world. Sam Altman has a known relationship with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and even attended Bezos’ wedding in Italy last year.

The film is now being circulated to other studios, and its final release plans remain uncertain. Despite its strong cast and completed production status, Artificial now faces an unexpected delay as it searches for a new home.

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