MUBI and NEON Circle Luca Guadagnino’s Sam Altman Drama ‘Artificial’ After Major Studios Walk Away
Luca Guadagnino has spent the better part of two years building one of the most closely watched films of his career, a dramatized look at the chaotic weekend that nearly ended Sam Altman’s run at OpenAI. Andrew Garfield stars as the tech executive in ‘Artificial,’ a project already being compared to ‘The Social Network’ for its mix of boardroom betrayal and outsized Silicon Valley egos. The script comes from former ‘Saturday Night Live’ writer Simon Rich, with the story built around the chaotic 2023 weekend in which Altman was fired and then rehired by OpenAI’s board within days.
That momentum hit a snag when Amazon MGM Studios, which developed the film and had slated it for an early 2027 release, walked away from the project entirely. A spokesperson for the studio insisted the decision had nothing to do with subject matter, telling The Hollywood Reporter the company maintains “the utmost respect and admiration for Luca Guadagnino as an award winning filmmaker.” The exit landed just months after Amazon announced a $50 billion investment in OpenAI as part of a multi year cloud partnership.
Now, according to a new Variety report, MUBI is pursuing ‘Artificial,’ with NEON also possibly circling as a second suitor. Several buyers have already passed on the film, including Focus Features, Warner Bros.’ Clockwork, A24 and Netflix, while CAA Media Finance, which represents Guadagnino, has been running screenings to find the picture a new home since Amazon’s exit.
‘Artificial’ is a reported $40 million production currently in the final stages of post production, with principal photography having wrapped back in October 2025. The film is said to portray Altman as a pathological liar, while Ike Barinholtz’s Elon Musk is described as highly antipathetic, details that have only fueled industry chatter about how any new distributor might handle the optics.
MUBI is seen as a particularly natural landing spot given its existing relationship with Guadagnino, having released his Burroughs adaptation ‘Queer’ across multiple territories, handled the UK theatrical run of ‘Suspiria,’ and taken worldwide rights to his short film ‘The Staggering Girl.’ The distributor also has a history of rescuing films that other studios got cold feet on, having stepped in for Coralie Fargeat’s ‘The Substance’ after Universal dropped it ahead of Cannes, a gamble that paid off with a festival prize and five Oscar nominations.
Industry watchers have already drawn comparisons to ‘The Apprentice,’ the Sebastian Stan led Donald Trump drama that scared off distributors before Briarcliff picked it up and turned it into an awards contender. Should MUBI close a deal, a world premiere at the Venice Film Festival would be expected, continuing Guadagnino’s tradition of unveiling major work on the Lido following ‘After the Hunt.’
The ensemble around Garfield includes Monica Barbaro as former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, alongside Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Cooper Koch, Billie Lourd, Zosia Mamet, Chris O’Dowd and Mark Rylance, with Yura Borisov rounding out the cast as OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever.
With Focus, Netflix, A24 and Warner Bros. now out of the running, the fate of ‘Artificial’ may come down to a quiet bidding battle between MUBI and NEON in the coming weeks. Would you rather see MUBI give ‘Artificial’ the same Cannes worthy rescue it gave ‘The Substance,’ or does NEON feel like the better fit for this particular Silicon Valley showdown?
