The first trailer for “Artificial,” Luca Guadagnino’s film about Sam Altman’s 2023 firing and later return to OpenAI, arrived Tuesday.
It gave the public its first look at Andrew Garfield’s performance as the OpenAI CEO.
The scenes show Garfield’s Altman walking through an expensive OpenAI compound that leads down to a room filled with guns and dangerous arms. “We opened Pandora’s Box together. The future is inevitable,” Garfield’s Altman says in voice over. Later in the same passage, his character says that nations will fail and that industries will come apart, adding that he and those around him will guide people into a new age.
The official teaser, released by Neon.
What the Trailer Shows
The pictures follow Altman through what looks like an ordinary day of work, though the compound around him tells a stranger story. The trailer closes on a heated exchange between Garfield’s Altman and Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI’s chief science officer, played by Yura Borisov. Sutskever, according to reports, played a central part in Altman’s firing as CEO.
Written by Simon Rich, “Artificial” does not attempt to tell Altman’s complete life story. Instead, the film centers on the period around his firing and his return to the company. The film is directed by Guadagnino, working from Rich’s screenplay, with Rich also serving as a producer.
Who’s in It
Ike Barinholtz plays Elon Musk, one of OpenAI’s founders. Monica Barbaro appears as Mira Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer, while Cooper Hoffman plays Greg Brockman, the head of OpenAI’s board. Mark Rylance plays Geoffrey Hinton. The cast also includes Jason Schwartzman, Chris O’Dowd, Zosia Mamet, Cooper Koch, Billie Lourd, Angus Imrie, Nicholas Hamilton and Thaddea Graham.
Filming began in San Francisco at Dolores Park before the production moved to Turin, Italy. Malik Hassan Sayeed served as director of photography, marking his second time working with Guadagnino after “After the Hunt.” Damon Albarn, known for his work with Blur and Gorillaz, composed the score and wrote original songs for the film, his first time working with the director.
The Amazon Withdrawal
Amazon MGM Studios was first set to distribute “Artificial” in every country. The studio later dropped the film entirely, a move that drew wide attention because it came just months after Amazon signed a $50bn deal with OpenAI. The reasons behind Amazon’s decision were never made public, though one report guessed it might have to do with the film’s harsh portraits of Altman and Musk.
Producers then began showing the film to other studios, including A24, Focus Features, Netflix, Neon and Warner Bros. Every one of them passed except Neon. Test scores for the film were said to be weak, and reactions at screenings held by the Creative Artists Agency were mixed at best.
One buyer who saw the film said there was no secret plan behind the decision to drop it, calling the matter simply “a question of taste,” with some viewers plainly “not liking” the film.
Neon picked up rights to the film after Amazon stepped away, agreeing to release it during the coming awards season. The film will premiere at the 2026 New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on Oct. 5, followed by a limited release on Christmas Day, with a wider release planned for January 2027.
Reports later said Neon agreed to the deal only under the condition that no guaranteed sum be attached, and that the studio does not plan to send the film through the fall festival season before its release, despite reported interest from other major festivals.
Amazon’s decision to drop “Artificial” soon after finalizing its own OpenAI deal made the studio the subject of criticism online, with many noting the timing looked poor given the size of the new partnership between the two companies.
That attention, paired with Guadagnino’s direction and a well-known cast, has kept “Artificial” in the conversation as one of the season’s most watched titles heading into awards season. People close to the film have described Neon as confident about its chances, believing it should at least be part of the awards conversation this year.
Release Schedule
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Oct. 5, 2026 | World premiere at New York Film Festival, Alice Tully Hall |
| Dec. 25, 2026 | Limited release via Neon |
| January 2027 | Wider release |
“Artificial” opens in select cinemas on Christmas Day, with its wider run beginning early in 2027.
Source: thewrap.com
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