Luca Guadagnino's film 'Artificial', which stars Andrew Garfield as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has been acquired by indie distributor Neon following a bidding process. This comes after Amazon MGM Studios announced in June that it would not be distributing the nearly-finished $40m film.
Amazon MGM Studios stated that the film would "be better served if it were released by a different studio." The decision followed Amazon's $50bn investment in OpenAI and Altman's attendance at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's wedding last year.
Andrew Garfield, speaking on Wednesday (29 July), commented on Amazon's decision, saying he "was and wasn't" surprised. He told Variety that Amazon was "nothing but supportive and nothing but encouraging while we were making the film."
Co-star Cooper Hoffman, who portrays OpenAI chairman Greg Brockman, expressed less surprise, stating he was "shocked they picked it up in the first place." He added his happiness that Neon has now picked up the film.
The biographical comedy-drama, written by Simon Rich, also features Monica Barbaro, Yura Borisov, Mark Rylance, Jason Schwartzman, Zosia Mamet, and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk.