rewrite this title Netflix and Focus Features pass on Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial

The movie without a home

It was recently reported that Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming drama, Artificial, was abruptly dropped from its initial distributor — Amazon MGM. Directed by Guadagnino, the film stars Andrew Garfield as OpenAI founder Sam Altman, with the movie reportedly serving as a The Social Network-style drama about the rise of ChatGPT and artificial intelligence. Altman is said to be depicted in a non-sympathetic light. Amazon, of course, is owned by Jeff Bezos, who has maintained close ties to the White House, releasing the widely panned Melania Trump biopic earlier this year. Altman also has ties to the current administration, prompting raised eyebrows about why the film was dropped—especially given that Amazon announced plans to invest a whopping $50 billion in OpenAI back in February.

Netflix and Focus pass

The movie is pretty much in the can, with a nearly finished version being screened, so it is currently being shopped around. However, the film isn’t exactly the subject of a bidding war. According to The Hollywood Reporter, two studios — Netflix and Focus Features — have passed on the opportunity to distribute the movie. A24, which is a company that has taken risks with projects, has reportedly screened the film, but it is not known where their interests currently stand.

Mubi, which has grown with its own niche slate of films, including The Substance and Die My Love, was said to have been circling, but they have not commented after THR reached out. Another independent company, Neon, which has the Oscar winner Anora on its resume, also has yet to comment.

A spokesperson for Amazon MGM told THR,

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. 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.”

Artificial

The film had already been surprisingly pushed to 2027 despite being nearly finished, which would have taken it out of awards contention this year. Many believed the delay had to do with competition from Sony’s The Social Reckoning. Artificial also features Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk. The Puck report says the movie was shelved after a nearly finished version was screened, with it reportedly sporting a much darker tone than envisioned when the studio greenlit the project. The script was penned by SNL veteran Simon Rich.