Months after Amazon deepened its ties with OpenAI, Amazon MGM Studios has dropped plans to release Luca Guadagnino's star-studded movie about Sam Altman and the leadership crisis that nearly toppled him.
"We believe that 'Artificial' will be better served if it were released by a different studio and are working closely with the filmmaking team to find the film a new home," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement.
Directed by "Call Me by Your Name" filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, "Artificial" is a retelling of the tumultuous few days during which Altman was abruptly fired from and then quickly reinstated at OpenAI.
Altman was ousted from the company on November 17, 2023, in a move many in the tech community likened to a "coup." Five days later, OpenAI announced an agreement had been reached for Altman's return as CEO. In recent months, evidence presented in the Musk v. Altman trial has offered further insight into what went down during those chaotic few days.
OpenAI and Guadagnino did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
An all-star cast
The startup saga was adapted into a screenplay by former "Saturday Night Live" writer Simon Rich, and the movie features an all-star cast, including Andrew Garfield as Altman, as well as Cooper Koch and Mark Rylance.
Director Guadagnino, who received an Oscar nomination in 2018, said filming had wrapped by October 2025. He had previously worked with Amazon MGM Studios on movies such as "Challengers."
"We have the utmost respect and admiration for Luca Guadagnino as an award-winning filmmaker — not to mention a longstanding relationship that we hope to continue," the Amazon spokesperson said in the statement.
The move to drop "Artificial" comes a little over three months after Amazon announced a $50 billion investment and sweeping cloud partnership with OpenAI in late February.
At the time, Amazon said the investment was part of a "multi-year strategic partnership to accelerate AI innovation for enterprises, startups, and end consumers around the world."
Earlier this year, Amazon MGM Studio's big bet on a movie about another high-profile figure didn't exactly pay off.
The company paid $40 million for the rights to distribute "Melania," the highest amount ever paid for a commissioned documentary. It also paid an additional $35 million on marketing and its theatrical release.
The documentary about the first lady, Melania Trump, was released in January 2026. It flopped with critics and failed to break even at the Box Office. Business Insider's Peter Kafka described it as "not a good movie" and "a gift from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to the Trump administration."
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Joshua Nelken-Zitser is an award-winning Senior Reporter at Business Insider’s London bureau covering wealth, spending, and consumer culture.Through features, on-the-ground reporting, and As Told To essays, he explores how people use their money, from everyday spending to elite lifestyles, and what those choices say about modern life. His work focuses on the culture of money: how money shapes places and people, and how the world around them influences how they choose to spend.Joshua previously spent five years on the news desk, reporting from the US, across Europe, and the Middle East. In 2024, he received the Axel Springer Award for Change — Journalistic Piece of the Year and was highly commended at the British Journalism Awards for a multi-year investigation into subsidized gender-transition surgeries in Iran.His debut book (TRAUMA BONDS: How Generational Trauma Shapes, Divides and Connects Us) will be published by HarperCollins in January 2027.Got a tip? Email [email protected]. You can also follow him on X or Instagram.ExpertiseFeatures and reporting on affluent lifestyles, consumer spending, and the culture of money, alongside first-person stories about how people live and spend.Popular articlesWealth and spending:Series: Welcome to the 'Hamptons of England'Series: Living large in tiny homesI watched the ultra-rich descend on Venice for Jeff Bezos' wedding — and was shocked by how little locals cared'Clients bring back entire wardrobes': Tailors say Ozempic is reshaping Wall StreetThe new millennial flex: spending thousands on a birthday weekend at a chateauInternational features reporting:Iran will pay for your gender-transition surgery, but it comes with a cost — your dignityShe was killed by a look-alike she met on Instagram, police say. It thrust her family in Africa into a true-crime nightmare.How the trans alpaca ranchers of Custer County, Colorado, are forging a new frontierThe European housing crisis warping millennial life: The average Croatian lives with parents until 33Lithuania is the world's happiest place for under 30s, but it's also Europe's suicide capitalThe 'fairytale' French castles being used to shelter Ukrainian refugeesMost armies ignore autistic people. Israel is calling them up.
