Artificial is Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming drama about OpenAI and Sam Altman. Neon picked it up after Amazon MGM dropped it, a teaser dropped this month, and it’s heading to theaters on Christmas Day.
What it’s about The film follows the chaotic November 2023 stretch when OpenAI’s board fired CEO Sam Altman and then brought him back days later.
Reports describe it as a dark, Social Network-style look at power, ego, and who controls the technology at the center of the AI race.
Some accounts say Ilya Sutskever is the early focal point, with Altman becoming more central later.
Cast
- Andrew Garfield as Sam Altman
- Yura Borisov as Ilya Sutskever
- Monica Barbaro as Mira Murati
- Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk
- Mark Rylance as Geoffrey Hinton
- Also: Cooper Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Chris O’Dowd, Cooper Koch, Billie Lourd, Zosia Mamet
Director: Luca Guadagnino (Challengers, Call Me By Your Name).
Writer: Simon Rich. Score: Damon Albarn. Budget reported around $40 million.
The Amazon drop Amazon MGM developed the film and was aiming at an early 2027 release.
In June 2026 it walked away, saying the movie would be “better served if it were released by a different studio.”
That came months after Amazon announced a $50 billion partnership with OpenAI. A24, Netflix, Focus, and others passed; Neon took worldwide rights and said it would campaign the film for Oscars.
Release plan
- World premiere: New York Film Festival, October 5, 2026 (Alice Tully Hall)
- UK festival screening: BFI London Film Festival, October 11
- US theatrical: limited on December 25, 2026, wider in January
- UK/Ireland theatrical: January 22, 2027
A one-minute teaser dropped September 8. Garfield’s Altman talks about naming ChatGPT and “opening Pandora’s box,” with lines about countries falling and industries collapsing.
That’s the current picture as of mid-September 2026. Festival reactions in October will be the next big test.
