Amazon dropped Luca Guadagnino's OpenAI film, months after partnering with OpenAI

Amazon MGM Studios will no longer release Luca Guadagnino's buzzy Sam Altman biopic Artificial, Variety reported Friday.

The film, which stars Andrew Garfield as the OpenAI CEO and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk, focuses on Altman's firing (and later rehiring) from OpenAI in 2023. In February of 2026, OpenAI and Amazon announced a strategic multi-year partnership, which includes Amazon investing $50 billion in Altman's company.

According to The New York Times, the team behind Artificial was shocked at Amazon MGM's decision. Guadagnino has worked with the studio before, including on Challengers and After the Hunt. The New York Times reported that Amazon MGM had previously been supportive of Artificial, spending $40 million on it and preparing it for a 2027 SXSW release and potential awards run.

"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," an Amazon spokesperson told Variety. "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 New York Times reported that Artificial screened last week to potential buyers, including Neon, A24, Focus Features, Netflix, and Warner Bros.' Clockwork. However, no one has snapped up Artificial yet.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

Belen Edwards is an Entertainment Reporter at Mashable. She covers movies and TV with a focus on fantasy and science fiction, adaptations, animation, and more nerdy goodness. She is a member of the Critics Choice Association and the Television Critics Association, as well as a Tomatometer-approved critic.