The race to distribute Luca Guadagnino’s Sam Altman movie has narrowed down significantly. Several top buyers who screened the Andrew Garfield starrer after Amazon MGM Studios abruptly walked away have now declined to acquire it.
Andrew Garfield’s Sam Altman drama remains without a buyer
Focus Features, Warner Bros.’ Clockwork division, A24 and Netflix have all walked away from acquiring Artificial, Variety reported. The rejections came after CAA Media Finance began showing the nearly finished film to potential distributors, scrambling to find a new home following Amazon MGM’s sudden withdrawal.
Mubi has emerged as the frontrunner to rescue the $40 million production. Neon is also in the race, though Mubi has an advantage thanks to its established relationship with Guadagnino. The company previously handled his Burroughs adaptation Queer across international markets and managed the UK theatrical release of Suspiria.
Amazon MGM originally developed the project and planned an early 2027 release. Then Mike Hopkins, head of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, pulled the plug entirely. The decision raised eyebrows because Amazon had announced a $50 billion investment in OpenAI just months earlier, tying the companies together through a multi-year cloud deal.
Sources told Puck the finished film struck a darker tone than executives anticipated. Amazon insists the subject matter did not influence its choice, stating publicly that another studio would better serve the picture.
Artificial’s content itself poses clear challenges for distributors with tech connections. A24’s backer Josh Kushner runs Thrive Capital, which holds a board seat at OpenAI and counts among the company’s biggest investors. The script shows Altman (Andrew Garfield) as a pathological liar and reportedly compares Elon Musk, played by Ike Barinholtz, to a dictator.
Simon Rich, the SNL alum who wrote the screenplay, structured the story around the frenzied 2023 weekend when OpenAI’s board fired Altman only to rehire him days later. Yura Borisov plays co-founder Ilya Sutskever, the idealistic scientist whose vision anchors the film’s first act before a bitter boardroom battle consumes the narrative. Monica Barbaro, Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, and Mark Rylance round out the ensemble cast.
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