Amazon drops Luca Guadagnino's OpenAI biopic 'Artificial' after signing a $50bn partnership with Sam Altman's company

Amazon MGM Studios has abandoned Luca Guadagnino's biopic 'Artificial' about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, shocking the filmmakers and leaving the completed project without a distributor. The decision came just months after Amazon announced a $50 billion investment in OpenAI and a multi-year strategic partnership.

The decision and its business context

Amazon MGM informed the production team on Tuesday that it would no longer release the film. According to two people close to the project, the studio had been fully supportive until that point, spending around $40 million on the picture and already testing it in four markets. Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, made the call, which the company frames as a distribution choice.

“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.”

The partnership with OpenAI, announced in February, sees Amazon Web Services become a key provider for the AI company. Amazon's investment includes an immediate $15 billion, with a further $35 billion to follow when certain conditions are met, on top of a $38 billion cloud computing deal signed the previous year. The friendship between Altman and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who invited the OpenAI boss to his Venice wedding in 2025, adds a personal layer to the corporate calculus.

The 2023 leadership crisis on screen

'Artificial' recreates five tumultuous days in November 2023, when Altman was abruptly removed by OpenAI's board on a Friday video call, triggering a weekend of investor pressure led by Microsoft. By the following Monday, over 700 of roughly 770 employees had signed a letter threatening to resign en masse unless Altman returned, and within a week he was reinstated. Ilya Sutskever, the co-founder who backed the ouster, stepped down from the board after Altman's return.

Cast and creative team

Andrew Garfield stars as Altman, Yura Borisov plays Sutskever, Monica Barbaro portrays interim CEO Mira Murati, and Ike Barinholtz appears as Elon Musk. The script comes from Simon Rich, and this was Guadagnino's third collaboration with Amazon MGM after 'After the Hunt' and 'Challengers.' Early test screenings drew positive reactions, with one outlet describing the film as "'The Social Network' for the AI era."

What's next for the film

Agents at CAA screened the movie on Wednesday and Thursday for potential distributors, including Neon, A24, Focus Features, Netflix, and Warner Bros.' Clockwork division. No buyer has emerged yet. Amazon MGM originally targeted a wide release in early 2027, following an awards qualifying run over Christmas, timed to avoid competition from Aaron Sorkin's 'The Social Reckoning.'