Days after Amazon MGM pulled out of distributing Luca Guadagnino’s “Artificial,” other would-be suitors like Netflix and Focus Features have pulled out of the race, according to multiple media reports.
Amazon MGM, which developed the $40 million drama, announced on Friday that it would not move forward with a planned early 2027 release with a possible SXSW premiere next spring. CAA Media Finance, which represents Guadagnino, has screened the film for potential new distributors over the weekend, with Mubi and Neon reportedly among the distributors interested.
Amazon’s decision to drop the film came months after the company made a $50 billion investment in OpenAI as part of a cloud computing partnership, though the studio denied that the film’s subject matter and tone, which is said to feature a caustic portrayal of CEO Sam Altman by lead star Andrew Garfield, had anything to do with its move.
“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 said in a Friday statement. “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” centers on the week in 2023 when Altman was fired and rehired by OpenAI, as well as the rise of the company behind ChatGPT through the perspective of idealistic co-founder Ilya Sutskever, played by “Anora” Oscar nominee Yura Borisov. Ike Barinholtz also stars as Elon Musk, who filed a lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI in 2024 that was dismissed last month.
The ensemble cast for “Artificial” includes Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Cooper Koch, Billie Lourd, Zosia Mamet, Chris O’Dowd and Mark Rylance. Simon Rich wrote the script.
If Mubi were to pick up “Artificial,” it would put the film on a similar path to “The Substance,” the body horror film that was nominated for best picture at the Oscars after being dropped by Universal before its Cannes premiere. The film went on to earn multiple Oscar nominations and gross $77.3 million worldwide, helping establish Mubi as a player in the specialty film market.
Reps for Mubi, Warner Bros., A24 and Neon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Netflix and Focus declined comment.
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