Amazon has dropped Luca Guadagnino's controversial Sam Altman biopic, 'Artificial', which was poised for an awards run next year. In a statement first reported by Puck, Amazon said it believes 'that Artificial will be better served if it were released by a different studio' and is working with the film-making team to find a new home.
Partnership with OpenAI
Amazon's decision comes after a significant partnership between Amazon and OpenAI, where Altman is CEO. The deal includes an immediate $15 billion investment, with an additional $35 billion to follow when conditions are met, according to OpenAI's website. This follows a $38 billion cloud computing deal signed last year.
Film Details
The film stars Andrew Garfield as Altman and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk. It is believed to be an unflattering portrayal of the tech mogul. The script, by award-winning comedy writer Simon Rich, focuses on the dramatic firing and rehiring of Altman in 2023. The hero of Rich's story is OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, played by Yura Borisov, who was one of the board members that ousted Altman.
Amazon added: 'We have the utmost respect and admiration for Luca Guadagnino as an award-winning film-maker – not to mention a longstanding relationship that we hope to continue.'
Release Plans
The film had been circling a wide release in early 2027, after an awards qualifying run in the US over Christmas, to avoid competition from Aaron Sorkin's 'The Social Reckoning', a follow-up to David Fincher's 'The Social Network'. That film recasts Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg and stars Mikey Madison as whistleblower Frances Haugen.
Also starring in 'Artificial' are Monica Barbaro, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Cooper Koch, Billie Lourd, Zosia Mamet, Angus Imrie, Chris O'Dowd, and Mark Rylance.
Background
Last year, Puck reported that Warner Bros and Paramount had passed on Rich's script over concerns it was 'dull', though sources deny the script was shopped around and claim it was bought by Amazon at script stage. Guadagnino's recent film 'After the Hunt' starred Garfield as an academic accused of sexual assault. His other credits include 'Challengers', 'Call Me By Your Name', 'Queer', and 'A Bigger Splash'. Rich's movie credits include work on 'Inside Out', 'Wonka', 'A Minecraft Movie', and the script for 'An American Pickle'.
