Amazon MGM Studios has dropped Luca Guadagnino’s film Artificial, a nearly completed drama about OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, and is now helping the filmmakers find a new distributor.
The project stars Andrew Garfield as Altman and was deep into the production pipeline when the studio decided not to move forward with the release. According to the report, the film had already gone through several test screenings and had been shown to other studios on Thursday.
An Amazon spokesperson said the company remains supportive of Guadagnino and wants the film to find a different home. The studio described the director as an award-winning filmmaker and said it hopes to continue working with him in the future. A representative for Guadagnino did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The decision is notable because it comes after Amazon announced a major partnership with OpenAI in February. That deal included a planned $50 billion investment from Amazon and expanded OpenAI’s use of Amazon Web Services, along with work on custom AI models.
The overlap has drawn attention because Artificial centers on a key moment in OpenAI’s recent history. The film focuses on the short period in 2023 when Altman was removed from his role and then brought back. It was written by Saturday Night Live alum Simon Rich.
Beyond its lead role for Garfield, the cast includes Monica Barbaro as former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati, Yura Borisov as former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk. The ensemble also features Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Cooper Koch, Billie Lourd, Zosia Mamet, Angus Imrie, Chris O’Dowd and Mark Rylance.
People familiar with the project said early audience reactions were positive. One insider who saw the movie said the portrayals of Altman and Musk came off as the least favorable characters in the story. The same reporting also said Amazon had seen earlier versions of the script before Guadagnino came aboard.
The film’s fate is also drawing interest because of the personal and business ties surrounding Altman and Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos. Altman has a relationship with Bezos and attended Bezos’ wedding in Italy last year, according to the report.
Puck first reported that Amazon was dropping the film.
For now, Artificial is not being shelved outright. Instead, it is being shopped to other studios, with Amazon saying it believes the movie would be better served elsewhere. That leaves one of the industry’s more closely watched tech-centered films searching for a new release plan just as its final stretch of development appeared to be nearing completion.