Luca Guadagnino's film 'Artificial' about Sam Altman dropped by Amazon following OpenAI partnership announcement

Amazon has officially dropped Luca Guadagnino's film 'Artificial,' a biopic about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, citing that the project 'will be better served if it were released by a different studio.' This decision follows Amazon's recent partnership with OpenAI, where they invested $50 billion to enhance AI research and deployment.

The film, which stars Andrew Garfield as Altman and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk, portrays a tumultuous period in 2023 when Altman was controversially fired and then reinstated as CEO. The narrative is scripted by award-winning comedy writer Simon Rich and wrapped shooting last autumn. It is expected to focus on the dramatic events surrounding Altman's brief ousting, which involved board member Ilya Sutskever, who led the movement against him.

Amazon's spokesperson expressed respect for Guadagnino, stating, “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.” The film was initially set for a wide release in early 2027, following an awards qualifying run over Christmas, to avoid competition with Aaron Sorkin’s 'The Social Reckoning.'

The timing of Amazon's decision is notable, coming just months after their significant investment in OpenAI, which aims to accelerate the use of Amazon Web Services by the AI research company. The studio is now working closely with the filmmaking team to find a new home for 'Artificial.'