Neon rescued Guadagnino's AI drama after Amazon passed

Luca Guadagnino's film about OpenAI, "Artificial," was almost shelved by Amazon MGM Studios despite the company developing it. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Amazon decided not to release the completed $40 million movie, putting it up for sale.

Neon was the first to screen the film, which stars Andrew Garfield as Sam Altman. Other studios like Netflix and A24 passed, with speculation swirling that connections to Big Tech played a role. Amazon had announced a planned $50 billion investment in OpenAI months before selling off the film.

Guadagnino told THR he believes conflicts of interest influenced decisions. "Once you understand the nature of every company's business... you realize that some decisions are not the decisions they would've made in a vacuum," he said. Garfield echoed the sentiment, stating, "The fight is on to make sure that we are allowed to make things freely."

Neon acquired the film in a unique deal, paying nothing upfront but committing to a $15 million marketing spend. The movie will premiere at the New York Film Festival and hit theaters on Christmas Day.

Written by Simon Rich, "Artificial" traces decades in the lives of OpenAI founders Sam Altman and Ilya Sutskever, played by Yura Borisov. Guadagnino described the film's eerie timeliness, noting several scenes speak directly to recent headlines about AI safety.