Andrew Garfield has headlined a wide variety of television adaptations, indie features, and major superhero blockbusters, but his newest movie – Luca Guadagnino‘s nearly finished biographical comedy-drama, Artificial, about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman – is currently without a home after Amazon MGM Studios suddenly decided to pull the plug on it. The entertainment giant will no longer release the film, which means the project is now being actively shopped around to other Hollywood studios in a bid to secure a new distributor.
The news, which first arrived courtesy of Puck‘s Matthew Belloni but has since been confirmed by several outlets, may come as a surprise, considering the project was nearing completion and had already hosted several test screenings that went over well with audiences, per Variety. Guadagnino has also earned a reputation as one of modern cinema’s most distinct voices, having helmed a number of critically acclaimed features. His collaboration with Garfield, whose name alone boasts immense star power, was sure to attract attention, so it begs the question: Why would Amazon MGM Studios drop Artificial from its upcoming roster?
Directed by Guadagnino from a script penned by Saturday Night Live alum Simon Rich, Artificial is widely touted as an AI-focused equivalent of The Social Network, tracking the chaotic and high-stakes corporate drama at OpenAI, specifically the historic 2023 weekend in which CEO Sam Altman was fired and subsequently rehired by the company’s board of directors. Garfield leads the star-studded ensemble cast, playing Altman, alongside Ike Barinholtz as OpenAI co-founder Elon Musk, Yura Borisov as former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, and Monica Barbaro as former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, with Mark Rylance, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Cooper Koch, and Billie Lourd all starring in supporting roles.
While Amazon MGM Studios has not given an explicit reason for backing away from the project, it seems that the decision may have been driven by a massive conflict of interest, as it arrives just months after the company announced a $50 billion investment and multi-year strategic partnership with OpenAI. Releasing a high-profile movie that potentially paints their business partner’s CEO in an unfavorable light may not have been the wisest move. According to insiders, the final version of the film was significantly darker than pitched, and the characters of Altman and Musk stood out as the ones audiences would “like the least.”
“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,” a spokesperson for Amazon said in a statement, officially confirming the studio’s decision to pull the movie from its planned release – which had already been delayed from its expected late-2026 slot to an early 2027 window to avoid competition with The Social Reckoning. “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.”
Had the partnership remained intact, Artificial would have marked the third collaboration between Guadagnino and Amazon MGM Studios, following 2025’s After the Hunt, the dramatic thriller led by Garfield, Julia Roberts, and Ayo Edebiri, and 2024’s Challengers, the smash-hit tennis romance starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist. It is understood that the team behind Artificial are moving swiftly to secure a new distributor for the potential awards contender, having screened the movie to rival studios on Thursday.
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Amazon is run by incompetence.
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