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First Trailer for Guadagnino’s Sam Altman Biopic Artificial Is Released

Neon is moving the finished film into fall festivals and a limited U.S. Christmas release to mount an awards campaign.

Overview

  • The first footage for Artificial, directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Andrew Garfield as OpenAI chief Sam Altman, was unveiled this week and has drawn wide attention.
  • Garfield said he never met Altman and relied on public records to prepare for the role, and he told television audiences that he stopped using ChatGPT after making the film.
  • Amazon MGM, which financed the roughly $40 million picture, declined to distribute the finished movie after Amazon disclosed a major commercial tie to OpenAI and the film was subsequently sold to indie distributor Neon.
  • Neon has scheduled a festival push and the film will premiere in New York before opening in U.S. theaters in a limited release on December 25 with wider rollouts planned next year.
  • The trailer prompted public reactions, including a wry post from Sam Altman’s brother, and has raised questions about how quickly recent, high‑stakes tech events are dramatized and how corporate ties shape what films reach audiences.