Amazon MGM Studios has cut ties with director Luca Guadagnino’s nearly completed film about Sam Altman, shelving a project that was deep into post-production after the tech giant committed up to 50 billion dollars to a sweeping partnership with OpenAI.
The film, titled Artificial, stars Andrew Garfield as OpenAI’s chief executive and dramatises the chaotic four days in November 2023 when Altman was abruptly fired by the company’s board and then reinstated. Filming wrapped in October 2025 after shooting in San Francisco and Italy. The project was now in post-production when Amazon walked away.
Amazon’s withdrawal follows its February 27 announcement of a major cloud and investment deal with OpenAI. The initial commitment stands at 15 billion dollars, with up to 35 billion more subject to further conditions. The timing left little ambiguity about the reason for pulling the film. An Amazon spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
The cast includes Monica Barbaro as former OpenAI chief technology officer Mira Murati, Yura Borisov as ex-chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, and Ike Barinholtz as Elon Musk. The film was conceived as a Social Network-style account of the OpenAI board crisis and had been in development for over a year before production began.
Guadagnino’s representatives are now shopping Artificial to other studios. The director, whose recent credits include Challengers and Queer, had positioned the film as a serious look at Silicon Valley power dynamics rather than a promotional piece.
The decision raises questions about where corporate investment ends and editorial control begins in Hollywood. Judge Dismisses xAI Trade Secret Lawsuit Against OpenAI was another recent headline that kept the AI company in the legal spotlight. Amazon is among the largest investors in AI infrastructure globally, and its relationship with OpenAI now spans cloud services, research access, and model deployment.
OpenAI filed confidential IPO paperwork earlier this month targeting a valuation above one trillion dollars. Whether another studio picks up Artificial may depend on how willing distributors are to take on a subject with that level of financial entanglement in the broader market.
