Amazon cancels Sam Altman biopic 'Artificial' after $50B OpenAI deal

Amazon MGM Studios dropped the Sam Altman biopic 'Artificial' months after its $50 billion OpenAI deal, raising questions about Big Tech's creative

domenica 21 giugno 2026 New tab

TL;DRAI

Amazon MGM cancels the finished $40M Artificial biopic on Sam Altman months after signing its $50B OpenAI deal. The decision reveals how AI partnerships reshape corporate priorities—Amazon absorbed sunk costs to protect its critical OpenAI relationship.

413 words~2 min read

Amazon MGM Studios has pulled the plug on Artificial, a biopic about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Andrew Garfield. The film was nearly finished and tracking for an awards season release later this year.

The timing is, let’s say, conspicuous. Amazon announced a $50 billion partnership with OpenAI back in February 2026, an investment focused on AI development and Amazon Web Services infrastructure. A few months later, the studio decided it no longer wanted to release a movie about the guy running the company it just wrote a very large check to.

What happened to ‘Artificial’

The film, written by Simon Rich, centers on one of the most dramatic corporate episodes in recent tech history: Sam Altman’s firing by the OpenAI board in November 2023, and his subsequent rehiring days later.

Guadagnino, the director behind Call Me by Your Name and Challengers, had taken the project through production on a budget of approximately $40 million. By June 2026, the film was essentially complete.