Andrew Garfield’s upcoming film Artificial, which is based on Sam Altman and OpenAI, just hit a major roadblock. The new film, directed by Luca Guadagnino, explores the AI company’s decision to fire and later rehire Altman in 2023.
Amazon MGM passes on Andrew Garfield’s Artificial
Amazon MGM Studios will no longer be releasing Artificial. Puck broke the news and reported that Amazon is seeking another studio or distributor for the film. The decision to drop the film was made by Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios. As for why Amazon is passing on the film, they did not disclose a reason for the decision.
However, sources told Puck that Artificial’s tone in the finished film was darker than expected, which may have contributed to Amazon’s decision to exit the project. The company has a major long-term relationship with OpenAI, as Amazon invested around $50 billion into the company for the latter’s commitment to Amazon Web Services.
Amazon shared the following statement on the matter: “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.”
Artificial’s cast includes Andrew Garfield as Sam Altman and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk. Other cast includes Mark Rylance, Yura Borisov, Monica Barbaro, Billie Lourd, Jason Schwartzman, Cooper Koch, and Cooper Hoffman. The film is directed by Luca Guadagnino from a screenplay by Simon Rich.
Apart from exploring OpenAI, the film reportedly compares Elon Musk to a dictator. The same report also revealed that the film’s main focus will be on OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, played by Yura Borisov. Guadagnino will follow up Artificial with a remake of American Psycho.
Artificial currently has no release date announced yet.
