Andrew Garfield plays Sam Altman in first teaser for AI biopic 'Artificial'
After Amazon dropped the film, Neon will release Luca Guadagnino's OpenAI biopic in US cinemas on Christmas Day, with a New York Film Festival premiere in October.
Key points
- Director Luca Guadagnino's film about OpenAI chief Sam Altman is titled Artificial and will open in US cinemas on 25 December.
- Amazon MGM Studios dropped the project in June 2025 after news of OpenAI's involvement with Amazon sparked controversy.
- Neon, the distributor behind Parasite and Longlegs, picked the film up and will premiere it at the New York Film Festival in October.
- Andrew Garfield stars as Altman in the first teaser, which The Guardian called "creepy".
The first teaser for Artificial is out, and it's unsettling in exactly the way a film about Sam Altman probably should be.
Garfield plays Altman, the most recognisable face of the current AI boom. The footage is brief. It's also, by most accounts, deeply strange.
What happened to the film before it reached cinemas?
Amazon MGM Studios held distribution rights, then walked away in June 2025. The timing matters: reports linked the decision to tension around Amazon's own ties to OpenAI. A studio making a film about your business partner is an awkward position.
Neon stepped in. The indie distributor has a track record of backing films that make audiences uncomfortable in interesting ways.
What does this film have to do with AI news?
Quite a lot. Artificial isn't a documentary, but it's the first major studio-level film to put the AI industry itself under a dramatic lens. Altman has become public shorthand for the technology's promise and its controversies, including OpenAI's governance crisis in late 2023 when the board briefly fired him. We covered that shifting picture as recently as 28 July, when Altman signalled he may want to slow AI development, a striking departure for OpenAI's chief.
Hollywood committing to this story is a signal of how far the subject has moved from trade press into general culture. For ordinary viewers, the film may be the first time the origins of today's AI tools feel like a Friday-night story worth caring about.
When and where can people see it?
The world premiere is at the New York Film Festival in October 2026. Neon releases it in US cinemas on 25 December 2026, positioning it squarely as awards-season viewing. No international release dates have been confirmed.
Common questions
Is this film officially connected to OpenAI or Sam Altman?
Neither Guadagnino nor Neon has confirmed cooperation from Altman or OpenAI. It appears to be an independent dramatic work, not an authorised portrait.
Who is Luca Guadagnino?
Guadagnino is an Italian director known for Call Me by Your Name and the 2024 tennis film Challengers. His preference for slow, psychological character studies makes him a pointed choice for a story about the world's most scrutinised tech executive.
Should you worry?
Not about the film itself. What's worth watching is whether Altman and OpenAI say anything about it as the premiere approaches. Their silence, or lack of it, will tell you more than any teaser.
