Summary:
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A Hollywood drama about tech figure Sam Altman has lost its studio, sparking conversation on timing. Luca Guadagnino’s “Artificial” starring Andrew Garfield was dropped by Amazon MGM Studios. Variety confirmed the decision to shop the film to other studios.
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Amazon’s investment in OpenAI didn’t save the film, as Amazon framed the move as a fit issue. “Artificial” will be better served by a different studio, as Amazon searches for a new home. The star-studded movie focuses on Altman’s firing from OpenAI in 2023, with positive test screenings reported.
A starry, nearly finished Hollywood drama about one of tech’s most powerful figures just lost its studio, and the timing has people talking.
Luca Guadagnino’s Sam Altman movie “Artificial,” starring Andrew Garfield as the OpenAI chief executive, has been dropped by Amazon MGM Studios and will be shopped to other studios, Variety confirmed.
The decision came a few months after Amazon said it would invest $50 billion in OpenAI as part of a multi-year strategic partnership that accelerates the company’s use of Amazon Web Services. Amazon framed the move as a fit issue rather than a favor. In a statement, the studio said it has the utmost respect for Guadagnino and believes “Artificial” would be better served if released by a different studio, adding that it is working to find the film a new home.
Written by “SNL” alum Simon Rich, it focuses on the brief 2023 stretch when Altman was fired from OpenAI and then rehired, and features a deep cast including Monica Barbaro as former CTO Mira Murati, Yura Borisov as former chief scientist Ilya Sutskever and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk.
Variety reported the film had already held test screenings that went over very positively, and that one insider who saw it said the Altman and Musk characters come across as the least sympathetic.
