Independent film studio Neon has acquired Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial, a film based on the events surrounding OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's brief dismissal and reinstatement, after Amazon MGM Studios withdrew from the project.

The nearly completed film, with a reported budget of USD 40 million, stars Andrew Garfield as Altman.

Amazon MGM Studios had earlier said it believed the film “would be better served if it were released by a different studio”.

According to Variety, Netflix, A24 and Focus Features opted not to pursue the project after screenings organised by CAA Media Finance, which is handling sales. Mubi was also among the companies interested in the distribution rights.

Amazon’s exit came months after the company entered into a major partnership with OpenAI, including a reported USD 50 billion investment.

As per its official synopsis, “Artificial chronicles the incredibly consequential days leading up to the sudden firing and reinstatement of Sam Altman as CEO of OpenAI, as the fate of who gets to control the technology at the center of an AI arms race hangs in the balance”.

The cast also includes Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk, Monica Barbaro as former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati and Yura Borisov as former OpenAI chief scientist Ilya Sutskever.

Oscar winner Mark Rylance plays Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton, while Jason Schwartzman, Zosia Mamet, Cooper Hoffman, Chris O'Dowd, Cooper Koch and Billie Lourd also feature in the film.

The screenplay is by former Saturday Night Live writer Simon Rich.

Artificial is in the final stages of post-production. The film had initially been targeting a premiere at SXSW before Amazon’s withdrawal. Neon said it plans to mount an awards campaign for Artificial for this year's Academy Awards.

The acquisition deal was negotiated by Alison Cohen on behalf of Neon, with CAA Media Finance and Amazon MGM Studios.