Luca Guadagnino’s AI-themed drama Artificial is struggling to secure a distributor. After Amazon MGM Studios dropped the project last week, now Netflix, A24 and Focus Features have passed on the project, according to a media report.
The film, described in industry circles as The Social Network for the AI era, is being shopped around despite being nearly complete.
According to Variety, Warner Bros. and Clockwork have also stepped away from the project after Amazon MGM decided not to proceed with its release.
However, the report said independent distributors MUBI and Neon are currently circling the film, raising hopes that it could still find a theatrical home.
Made on a reported budget of USD 40 million, Artificial stars Andrew Garfield as OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman. The film is rumoured to depict Altman as a pathological liar, while Elon Musk, portrayed by Ike Barinholtz, is said to be presented in a highly unfavourable light.
The movie was screened for several potential distributors over the past week after Amazon MGM, which developed the project and had slated it for a 2027 release, decided against moving forward with it.
The decision came months after Amazon announced a USD 50 billion investment in OpenAI as part of a multi-year cloud partnership.
Amazon said it believes the film would be better served at another studio and is working with the filmmakers to secure a new distributor. The company also denied that the subject matter influenced its decision to part ways with the project.
MUBI is seen as a potential fit for the film, having previously worked with Guadagnino on several projects. The company released Queer across multiple international territories, handled the UK theatrical release of Suspiria and distributed his short film The Staggering Girl.
Artificial is written by Simon Rich of SNL fame and chronicles the dramatic events of 2023 when Altman was fired and then reinstated by OpenAI's board within a matter of days.