Amazon Walked Away From Sam Altman Film - Garfield, Musk and $50B OpenAI Deal
Guadagnino's Artificial is nearly finished and test screenings went well. The studio told the team to find another distributor.
Amazon MGM Studios dropped Artificial - Luca Guadagnino’s film about Sam Altman and the 2023 chaos when OpenAI’s CEO was fired and rehired days later.
Not a script in development. Per Variety and Deadline, it’s nearly finished: test screenings went well, and on Thursday other studios saw the cut. Same day Amazon said the film would be “better served” elsewhere.
Cast and plot
- Andrew Garfield - Sam Altman
- Monica Barbaro - Mira Murati
- Yura Borisov - Ilya Sutskever
- Ike Barinholtz - Elon Musk
- screenplay by Simon Rich
A Variety source says Altman and Musk are the least sympathetic characters. Amazon had seen early script drafts before Guadagnino joined - so the content was no surprise.
The $50 billion link
In February 2026 Amazon announced $50 billion in OpenAI investment and a deeper AWS partnership. The timing drew wide press attention.
The studio’s official line:
We believe that Artificial will be better served if it were released by a different studio.
CAA is shopping for a new distributor. A 2026 release was planned - no date is set now.
Context
The film covers the days when 770 OpenAI staff threatened to quit, Microsoft offered Altman a job, and the board fired him before bringing him back.
Now OpenAI is preparing an IPO while Amazon pours tens of billions into the company portrayed in a critical drama. Guadagnino, Garfield, and a starry cast remain - only the studio willing to release it changed.